Fake Social Media Account by Police Allowed Without Warrant

Keep your friends close, and your Instagram friends even closer.   One of your online friends might be the police and a search warrant is not needed to befriend you on social media.

Source: www.thenationaltriallawyers.org

The Social Media Police Strike Again

To quote Bugs Bunny, “What a maroon!”

When a string of burglaries occurred, the police had a pretty good idea who it might me. They found the suspect’s Instagram account, and asked (under an undercover account) to become “friends”. The suspect agreed.

The suspect then proceeded to send out pictures of all the stolen property to his “friends”, which now included the police. Busted.

The suspect sought to exclude the evidence, claiming the police needed a search warrant, but the court disagreed.

“Where Facebook privacy settings allow viewership of postings by “friends,” the Government may access them through a cooperating witness who is a “friend” without violating the Fourth Amendment” as in the case of U.S. v. Meregildo (883 F. Supp. 2d 523, 525 (S.D.N.Y. 2012)) where a Facebook “friend” was a cooperating witness and allowed law enforcement to access Meregildo’s posts regarding his violent acts and gang activity.

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Aaron Morris
Morris & Stone, LLP
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