Chicago, IL asked in Criminal Law for Colorado

Q: My husband was arrested on two warrants. The detective in charge if the case was there while they searched our car. He

He told me that he had a warrant for my husband's cell phone which I was holding. I thought he was being truthful so I gave it to him. He was lying. He did not have anything but an arrest warrant and that did not specify collecting the cell phone. Now a year later he finally did get a warrant for the phone, it's been in evidence the whole time. They found a text message to a dear family friend who lent us money and decided that it is evidence of a drug debt. They are doing that kind of thing with a lot of the our messages because we sell firewood. I talk and text to people all day long about the cost of a full cord or two cords etc. It's all about Pine, not Meth but they are trying to make something up. A cop shot our puppy, killed him and I filed a formal complaint. Since then its been hell. Cant we get the phone whole cell phone thing thrown out of the case because he lied about having a warrant to begin with. I can prove that he said that by way of his body cam from that day.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Sean Maye
Sean Maye
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Denver, CO
  • Licensed in Colorado

A: First and foremost, I am so sorry you experienced this.

Now, if what you have written here is in fact true - I.E. that your husband's cellphone was taken under false pretenses - then yes, there would likely be a valid argument that the evidence is not admissible. The government will likely challenge that you consented to recovery of the evidence, that it was not subject to any lie or false pretense, and that you do no otherwise have standing to assert your husband's 4th Amendment rights. Needless to say, the argument will be complicated. However, it is certainly worth exploring.

You will absolutely need to have your husband consult with a criminal attorney like myself or others on here to know for sure. Your attorney will need to explore all of the facts of what occurred to confirm what suppression arguments / defenses are available to him. Please follow up on this quickly.

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