Fourth Circuit: Cell Site Location Information Requires a Search Warrant

The Fourth Circuit just decided United States v. Graham, an important case about law enforcement access to cell site location information (CSLI). This post summarizes the case, explains its importance for North Carolina proceedings, and puts it in context in the broader debate about this type of information. Facts. Defendants Graham and Jordan committed a string of armed robberies of Baltimore businesses. They were arrested as they drove away from one of the crimes. Their cell phones were in the truck they occupied. In an effort to link the defendants to the other robberies, officers sought court orders under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d), a provision in the federal Stored Communications Act, for historical records regarding the phones. Under the statute, such orders may be issued based on a showing akin to reasonable suspicion and less than probable cause. Using this standard, the officers ultimately obtained two sets of orders, one that covered a total of 14 days, scattered around each of the previous robberies, and one that covered a continuous seven-month period encompassing all of the robberies. Sprint produced records in response to the orders, including cell site location information (CSLI) that placed the defendants at or near the locations of most of the robberies. Procedural history. The defendants were charged with assorted federal crimes. They moved to suppress the CSLI, arguing that the officers engaged in an unreasonable search when they obtained that information without a full-fledged search warrant based on probable cause. The district court judge denied the motion [...]