The Law Office of William McElroy https://wmcelroylaw.com/ Wed, 22 Mar 2023 16:44:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 https://i0.wp.com/wmcelroylaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Law-Office-of-William-McElroy.png?fit=32%2C10&ssl=1 The Law Office of William McElroy https://wmcelroylaw.com/ 32 32 209252824 CELL PHONE RECORDS https://wmcelroylaw.com/cell-phone-records/ Wed, 22 Mar 2023 16:44:11 +0000 https://wmcelroylaw.com/?p=840 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently decided a case I was involved with.  The issue was whether GPS data automatically generated by a computer from an ankle monitor was hearsay.  The Court said no.  So the evidence was admissible to place the defendant at a particular location at a particular time.  Pretty damning to the defendant. … Continue reading CELL PHONE RECORDS

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]]> The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently decided a case I was involved with.  The issue was whether GPS data automatically generated by a computer from an ankle monitor was hearsay.  The Court said no.  So the evidence was admissible to place the defendant at a particular location at a particular time.  Pretty damning to the defendant.  The Court ruled that such evidence was not hearsay because it was not a statement made by a declarant as required by Evidence Rule 801.  And it was not an assertion of non-verbal conduct by a person.  That would seem to be the final challenge to any kind of computer generated data including cell phone records.  The authentication requirement of Evidence Rule 901 has previously been addressed and now Rule 801 says you can’t claim the data is an out of court statement offered for the truth because it’s not a “statement”.  That requires verbal or non-verbal conduct by a PERSON.

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]]> 840 DON’T OBSCURE YOUR LICENSE PLATE https://wmcelroylaw.com/it-is-a-long-establish-fact-that-a-reader-will-3/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 00:20:06 +0000 https://wmcelroylaw.com/?p=79 Who knew? I guess the Superior Court does. Stopping the car because the frame around the license plate obscured the Pennsylvania tourism website is allowed. The means the police get to stop your car and get a free “plain view” inside the cab.
The license plate numbers and letters were not obscured. Just the bottom part where the state tourism website is advertised. It was “obscured in any manner”. So the stop was good so was the seizure of the gun found inside the car.

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]]> Who knew? I guess the Superior Court does. Stopping the car because the frame around the license plate obscured the Pennsylvania tourism website is allowed. The means the police get to stop your car and get a free “plain view” inside the cab.
The license plate numbers and letters were not obscured. Just the bottom part where the state tourism website is advertised. It was “obscured in any manner”. So the stop was good, and so was the seizure of the gun found inside the car.

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]]> 79 YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS CAN BE USED AGAINST YOU https://wmcelroylaw.com/your-social-media-accounts-can-be-used-against-you/ Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:47:12 +0000 https://wmcelroylaw.com/?p=756 What you say and write do in your social media accounts can be used against you if the Commonwealth can provide sufficient evidence that you’re the author of the material in the account.  Circumstantial evidence is acceptable.   Your nickname, biographical information, and pictures of you can all be used to prove you’re the author of… Continue reading YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS CAN BE USED AGAINST YOU

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]]> What you say and write do in your social media accounts can be used against you if the Commonwealth can provide sufficient evidence that you’re the author of the material in the account.  Circumstantial evidence is acceptable.   Your nickname, biographical information, and pictures of you can all be used to prove you’re the author of the material in the account.

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]]> 756 Feel Free To Look For Lawyer On The Internet. It Can’t Be Used Against You As Consciousness Of Guilt https://wmcelroylaw.com/it-is-a-long-establish-fact-that-a-reader-will-2/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 00:19:51 +0000 https://wmcelroylaw.com/?p=80 That’s right. A prosecutor in Allegheny County was permitted to introduce an internet search by a defendant for lawyers BEFORE he was even arrested. The Superior Court corrected that poor decision by the prosecutor, and the trial judge who allowed it.

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]]> That’s right. A prosecutor in Allegheny County was permitted to introduce an internet search by a defendant for lawyers BEFORE he was even arrested. The Superior Court corrected that poor decision by the prosecutor, and the trial judge who allowed it.

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]]> 80 NO EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY WHEN YOU BUY SUDAFED IN A DRUG STORE https://wmcelroylaw.com/it-is-a-long-establish-fact-that-a-reader-will/ Thu, 05 Aug 2021 00:19:06 +0000 https://wmcelroylaw.com/?p=75 A defendant was caught making methamphetamine with SUDAFED, lithium batteries, muriatic acid, propane, funnels and filters. The police looked up his history of purchases of Sudafed using the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEX). That’s where your information goes when you hand the pharmacist your license while buying a box of Sudafed or combination product.
The police found a plethora of Sudafed purchases by the defendant and his girlfriend. The evidence was used at trial after the defendant filed a motion to suppress the NPLEX information. His theory was that a search warrant was needed to access the NPLEX data because he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his “health information”. The trial court and appellate courts both said “WRONG”. NPLEX does not gather “health information”, it’s RETAIL PURCHASE INFORMATION. So, now you know why the pharmacist asks for your license, and has you sign for your purchase of Sudafed.

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]]> A defendant was caught making methamphetamine with SUDAFED, lithium batteries, muriatic acid, propane, funnels and filters. The police looked up his history of purchases of Sudafed using the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEX). That’s where your information goes when you hand the pharmacist your license while buying a box of Sudafed or combination product.
The police found a plethora of Sudafed purchases by the defendant and his girlfriend. The evidence was used at trial after the defendant filed a motion to suppress the NPLEX information. His theory was that a search warrant was needed to access the NPLEX data because he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his “health information”. The trial court and appellate courts both said “WRONG”. NPLEX does not gather “health information”, it’s RETAIL PURCHASE INFORMATION. So, now you know why the pharmacist asks for your license, and has you sign for your purchase of Sudafed.

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