You are here: / / IN THIS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE, COMPELLING DEFENDANT TO UNLOCK THE CELL...
, ,

IN THIS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE, COMPELLING DEFENDANT TO UNLOCK THE CELL PHONE WITH HIS FINGERPRINT AMOUNTED TO TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE THAT HE OWNED, CONTROLLED AND HAD ACCESS TO THE CONTENTS OF THE PHONE, A VIOLATION OF HIS FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHT AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION; THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS THE TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE AND THE CONTENTS OF THE PHONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Ogden, determined compelling defendant to unlock his cell phone with his finger (the cell phone was programmed to recognize defendant’s fingerprint) violated defendant’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The police were acting pursuant to a child-pornography search warrant when defendant was compelled to unlock the phone. The cell phone contained child pornography. Defendant pled guilty. The issue on appeal was whether defendant’s motion to suppress the images on the phone should have been granted:

… [T]he People do not dispute that the opening of the cell phone was compelled and incriminating. We are thus tasked with determining whether defendant’s compelled opening of his cell phone, upon the warrant’s execution, had a testimonial aspect sufficient to trigger Fifth Amendment protection.

… [W]e conclude that defendant’s “act of unlocking the phone represented the thoughts ‘I know how to open the phone,’ ‘I have control over and access to this phone,’ and ‘the print of this specific finger is the password to this phone’ ” … . The biometric data defendant provided “directly announce[d] [defendant’s] access to and control over the phone, as well as his mental knowledge of how to unlock the device” … . The act of production cases also support the conclusion that, upon execution of the warrant, defendant’s compelled unlocking of his phone through biometric data was testimonial. We conclude that “in response to the command to unlock the phone, [defendant] opened it, [and] that act disclosed his control over the phone [and] his knowledge of how to access it” … . At a minimum, the authentication through biometric data implicitly communicated that the contents contained therein were in defendant’s possession or control … .

… [T]he way in which the warrant was executed effectively required defendant to answer “a series of questions about ownership or control over the phone, including how it could be opened and by whom” … .

… “Because the compelled opening of the cellphone [during the execution of the search warrant] was testimonial, both the message and any evidence obtained from that communication must be suppressed” … . People v Manganiello, 2025 NY Slip Op 03873, Fourth Dept 6-27-25

Practice Point: At least where there is a question whether defendant owns and controls a cell phone which contains child pornography, compelling defendant to unlock the phone with his fingerprint is tantamount to defendant’s testimony that defendant owns, controls and has access to the contents of the phone—constituting a violation of a defendant’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

 

You might also like
DEFENDANTS’ OWN SUBMISSIONS DEMONSTRATED (1) PLAINTIFF OWNED THE PROPERTY LEFT IN THE HOUSE PURCHASED BY DEFENDANTS, (2) PLAINTIFF HAD REMOVED SOME OF THE PROPERTY, AND (3) PLAINTIFF ASKED FOR MORE TIME TO REMOVE MORE PROPERTY; THOSE FACTS NEGATED DEFENDANTS’ ALLEGATION PLAINTIFF HAD ABANDONDED THE PROPERTY; DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT DISMISSING THE CONVERSION CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT). ​
THE STATE PROPERLY APPROVED THE CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTICITY-GENERATING WIND TURBINES IN WESTERN NEW YORK (FOURTH DEPT).
DEFENDANTS’ DECEDENT’S PHARMACY RECORDS IN THIS BICYCLE-VEHICLE COLLISION CASE ARE NOT PROTECTED BY PHYSICIAN-PATIENT PRIVILEGE AND MUST BE DISCLOSED SUBJECT TO TIME LIMITATIONS AND IN CAMERA REVIEW (FOURTH DEPT).
THE JUDGE’S MAINTENANCE AWARD MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY BASED UPON THE FACTORS ENUMERATED IN DOMESTIC RELATIONS LAW 236; MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT). ​
THE TOWN CONTRACTED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ON WHICH PLAINTIFF WAS INJURED; DEFENDANT CONTRACTED WITH THE TOWN TO HANDLE BIDS FOR THE PROJECT; DEFENDANT WAS NOT AN AGENT FOR THE TOWN AND THE LABOR LAW 240(1), 241(6), 200 AND NEGLIGENCE ACTIONS AGAINST DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FOURTH DEPT). ​
Statutory Moratorium On Rate Appeals Applied Retroactively to All Appeals Prior to April, 2015
FOR PURPOSES OF CLAIMANT’S ACTION FOR WRONGFUL CONVICTION AND IMPRISONMENT, THE TRIAL ORDER OF DISMISSAL IN THE CRIMINAL TRIAL WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF AN ACQUITTAL (FOURTH DEPT).
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS WERE JUSTIFIED BY THE EMERGENCY DOCTRINE IN THIS AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT CASE; THE DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

WHEN A WITNESS’S IDENTIFICATION OF THE DEFENDANT FROM A PHOTOGRAPH SHOWN... THE DETECTIVE DID NOT READ THE MIRANDA RIGHTS TO DEFENDANT AND IT IS CLEAR FROM...