Magistrate Judge Alan Kay concluded that the text messages did not involve attorney-client privilege and recommended they be turned over to prosecutors "in their entirety."Įxcerpts from Justice Department's brief: Note that Verizon did not keep copies of the actual contents of her e-mail messages.īecause Jackson alleged that the text messages might involve sensitive attorney-client communications, the court appointed a magistrate judge to review them. It turned over three sets of documents: information about the account holder linked to that phone number, a list of the complete contents of the text messages sent or received by cellular telephone number (301) 325-XXXX between June 6 and October 31, 2007, and a log of whom Jackson sent messages to from her Verizon e-mail address. District Judge Richard Roberts sided with the prosecution and said that only a subpoena was needed. Jackson's lawyer opposed the request, saying that a proper search warrant was required. (The Justice Department says this is fine because the text messages were "opened communications," meaning that they were already read by the recipient and should therefore be easier to obtain.) Instead, all prosecutors must do is claim-and this is much easier-that the records are "relevant and material" to an investigation. The request was made under (b)(1)(b)(i) and (ii), which do not require probable cause and a search warrant. Department of Justice asked for a subpoena ordering Verizon Wireless to turn over the contents of text messages for phone number (301) 325-XXXX. One person allegedly said that Jackson urged him, "using text messaging and e-mail," to go along with the alterations. If that is true, it could amount to an additional charge of obstruction of justice. Secret Service asserts the documents were altered or doctored.
To buttress her request for a minimum sentence, Jackson submitted letters that she said were from friends, employers, and relatives, but the U.S. It involves Susan Jackson, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving unauthorized transfers from her employer's bank account to her own NASA Federal Credit Union account.
The most recent case dealing with SMS text messages does not involve a celebrity, though. (By the way, here is one way to send almost-anonymous text messages.)
Text messages were also part of the trial involving the attempted murder of rapper 50 Cent. In addition, a judge in the Kobe Bryant sex case ordered the phone provider to turn over archived messages. In a case that Police Blotter wrote about last year, federal police obtained logs of archived text messages from two unnamed wireless providers. It may not be that well known outside of police and telecommunications circles, but odds are excellent that your mobile phone provider saves copies of your SMS text messages. What happened, according to court documents: Outcome: Prosecutors receive the complete contents of defendant's text messages. When: District judge rules on October 30 magistrate judge completes review of archived text messages on Friday. Department of Justice seeks archived SMS text messages from Verizon Wireless without obtaining a warrant first. Police Blotter is a weekly report on the intersection of technology and the law.