Can the D.A. Use Phone Records As Evidence for Prosecution?
Prosecutors have a great many tools available at their disposal in the pursuit of justice: phone records are one such tool. In the past, only landline records were available for admission in criminal court. Recently, however, cell phone records have also become useful in convicting lawbreakers.
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Landlines
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Records pertaining to landlines, whether retrieved from the phone company or defendant, are an excellent way to show when calls where made, to which number and for how long. In addition, utility records (such as those used for phones), can help pinpoint a person's legal address at any given time.
Cell Phones
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Cell phone records also have their place in law enforcement. Although they cannot help determine an individual's address (since they are typically used to make calls away from home), they can help pinpoint that individual's location at the time a call was made.
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Exceptions
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While both landline and cell phone records are admissible in court in most cases, there are exceptions. If law enforcement cannot show that probable cause should allow them to access the records, defendants can plead through their Fourth Amendment rights that those records remain inadmissible. The Fourth Amendment protects residents against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
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References
- Photo Credit phone image by Eisenhans from Fotolia.com
