SCOTUS Distributes Cert Petition of Defendant Who Won't Give Up His Passcode

The U.S. Supreme Court distributed for the justices’ Feb. 23 conference a criminal defendant's cert petition seeking to reverse an Illinois Supreme Court finding that the state can compel him under the Fifth Amendment to produce his cellphone’s passcode for a police investigation (see 2401230003), said a docket entry Thursday (docket 23-5827). The petitioner, Keiron Sneed, was arrested on charges of forging two paychecks and depositing them in his bank account using his cellphone. The police obtained a warrant to seize the cellphone but were unable to execute it because the phone was password-protected and Sneed refused to unlock it. Sneed contends that compelling him to reveal his passcode would force him to assist in his own prosecution. Illinois maintains that SCOTUS lacks jurisdiction to hear Sneed’s case because the Illinois Supreme Court decision compelling him to unlock his cellphone was an interlocutory opinion from a state court.