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Cell Phone Photos
Date: Apr 18, 2005
Contributor: Hugh Vanduyne
Cell-phone photos spur legal query
Judge weighs propriety of police seizure of data in secret-peeping case
A Superior Court judge must decide whether law enforcement officers went too far when they downloaded images from the cell phone of a man accused of sexual offense and secret peeping.
Wrightsville Beach police charged Christopher R. Snow, 26, in July with second-degree sexual offense and secret peeping-photographic image.
The charges against Snow say he attended a party with a female co-worker, and they ended up on the beach, where the woman lost consciousness.
At that point, police said, Snow began improperly touching the woman and taking photographs with the camera phone. He was arrested after passers-by called police.
Snow maintains his innocence, lawyer Neil Weber said Friday.
Judge Allen Cobb Jr. could rule this week on the motion to suppress evidence, Assistant District Attorney Todd Fennell said.
"In this case, the pictures are one piece of evidence," Fennell said. "The pictures showed what we contend is a sexual assault."
Police received some images from Snow's carrier, Sprint, after obtaining a search warrant, Fennell said. The camera phone is still held as evidence.
Fennell said investigators researched the issue but didn't find any legal precedent.
"There's no case law pertaining to getting information off a cell phone," he said.
Snow remains free on $10,000 bail.
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