The 9th Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals has ruled that law enforcement officers do not have the right to answer a defendant's telephone call and pretend to be the defendant, even if the defendant consented to the officer searching the defendant's cellphone. [United States of America v. Andres Lopez-Cruz, No. 11-50551 (Septemcer 12, 2013)]
The defendant, Andres Lopez-Cruz, was stopped by a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the San Diego County, California - Mexico border. After informing the agent that the two cellphones in his vehicle's console belonged to friends, Lopez-Cruz then agreed to the agent's request to search the cellphones.
One of the cellphones rang, and the agent answered it. The agent-officer did not seek defendant Lopez-Cruz's. permission, but he initiated a conversation with the caller while pretending to be Lopez-Cruz.
As a direct result of the information he received from the incriminating conversation he had with the caller, the agent and his agent colleagues were able to make arrests and, inter alia, charge Lopez-Cruz with conspiracy to pick-up and transport undocumented immigrants from Mexico. [www.abajournal.com/news/article/ " Officer Can't Answer Your Phone And Impersonate You, 9th Circuit Says Regarding Cell Phone Search"/ September 13th, 2013/ Stephanies Francis Ward]
The Court effectively suppressed all evidence received by way of the cellphone conversation, as it was gathered in violation of the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, inter alia.
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