Drug Induced Homicide Defense Toolkit
practical considerations that arise when evidence from cell phones is used during the course of drug-induced homicide enforcement. As the applicable legal protections vary based on the type of information sought by law enforcement,228 this section is divided up into three parts: one dealing with contents of communications and related metadata, one dealing with location information, and one dealing with information from the mobile applications ecosystem. 1. Contents and metadata First and foremost, cell phones are a rich source of information regarding an individual’s communications. Communication records obtained from an individual’s cell phone may include both the content of an individual’s communications229 and information about an individual’s communications (also known as "metadata").230 In DIH investigations, prosecutors are keen to access communication information. The National District Attorneys Association's white paper on the opioid crisis addresses this desire: Of particular importance in the homicide investigation of a fatal overdose is the individual’s cell phone. In many instances, a user will engage in a series of calls and/or texts with the drug dealer shortly before death to arrange the purchase of 228
Ben Brown & Kevin Buckler, Pondering personal privacy: a pragmatic approach to the Fourth Amendment protection of privacy in the information age, 20 Contemp. Just. Rev. 227 (2017). 229
Saved text messages are an example of the contents of an individual’s communication that can be retrieved from their phone. 230
Phone call metadata can include the identity of the caller and recipient, time of the call, and duration of the call.
Version Date July 2021 – Check https://ssrn.com/abstract=3265510 for most current edition
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