N.J. justices order passcode disclosure

TRENTON, N.J. — The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled a defendant must turn over the passcodes for his two phones in response to a search warrant, opening the way for law enforcement agencies to compel other defendants in the state to do the same.

The court’s majority decision on Monday was supported by four justices with three dissenting in the case of Robert Andrews, a former Essex County sheriff’s officer who is suspected of helping a man charged with trafficking drugs, NJ Advance Media reported. Andrews was charged in 2016 with official misconduct and other counts over accusations of passing on information about an investigation to the suspect.

Andrews had appealed an order from a lower court to turn over the passcodes to his phones so authorities could execute a search warrant on phone calls and texts between the two men.

Charles Sciarra, Andrews’ attorney, argued, in part, that Andrews did not have to turn over the codes because the Fifth Amendment protected him from self-incrimination. But the court found the passcodes were not “testimonial” and noted that Andrews did not challenge the search warrants, which give the state “the right to the cellphones’ purportedly incriminating contents,” the majority decision said.

Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, who wrote the dissenting opinion, said the law had reached a crossroads on compelling “a defendant to disgorge undisclosed private thoughts — presumably memorized numbers or letters — so that the government can obtain access to encrypted smartphones?”