He could just as easily argue he was forced to give the password under duress and accidentally gave them the wrong password.
As such, its highly improper for them to have tried to take data from his phone without a warrant and try to argue he destroyed evidence when he has not been charged with a crime.
The motion also states that Tunick asked four times to speak with a lawyer and was denied each time.
Also highly illegal.
TehPers@beehaw.org 3 days ago
It’s not really a case of duress. Legal searches are also done under duress, and you can’t just argue to a judge “well I got nervous and shredded the documents”.
What it really boils down to is whether border agents can search a phone without a warrant on entry, or whether the search was illegal. As part of it, they also need to decide whether a person has their Miranda rights during entry to a country. The answer, in my opinion, should be obvious (the alternative is you have no rights on entry), but with the current courts, who knows what they’ll decide.
This is where the question about Miranda rights comes in, and whether the question of whether the constitution grants rights during entry comes in as well. If you have no rights, then it can be argued you have no right to demand a lawyer either.