{"id":30888,"date":"2024-10-03T16:16:17","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T20:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/?p=1075795"},"modified":"2024-10-03T16:16:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T20:16:17","slug":"deleting-evidence-think-again-lessons-from-the-eric-adams-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2024\/10\/03\/deleting-evidence-think-again-lessons-from-the-eric-adams-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Deleting Evidence? Think Again: Lessons From The Eric Adams Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-CRIME-MAYOR\"

(Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

New York Mayor Eric Adams faces a five-count indictment<\/a> that boils down to a bribery scheme involving illegal foreign donations. As this Supreme Court has made pretty clear that it doesn’t think most bribery is a crime<\/a>, Adams and his high-powered lawyers<\/a> are leaning into recasting all those payments as innocent gratuities<\/a> from Turkey for good government service rendered.<\/p>\n

And by “good government service rendered” we mean “waiving fire codes.”<\/p>\n

The allegations in the indictment include specific references to a dizzying array of incriminating messages grabbed from phones seized from the mayor and his team. Making the whole affair a valuable reminder that some — if not most — people are very, very stupid about their phones. Or what they think they’ve deleted or otherwise kept hidden on their phones.<\/p>\n

That’s a big deal for everyone who isn’t stupid. Because phones are increasingly taking over as our discoverable evidence repositories. And forensics expert David Greetham of Level Legal<\/a> sees this transition from paper to computer to phone as the primary vector of evidence as accelerating. “Last year, it was 52% of mobile devices — the first time it had been more than half — and so far this year we’re at 64%,” he said.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s a criminal conspiracy leaving a glaring digital paper trail or civil litigants creating themselves a nightmare discovery problem, let’s consider a few of the ridiculous data collection issues involved in this case.<\/p>\n

Do Not Passcode, Do Collect Several Million Dollars<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When Adams handed over his personal cellphone to the FBI, he told them it was locked because he’d forgotten the passcode because he’d recently changed it to protect<\/em> the evidence from his staff potentially deleting it.<\/p>\n

ADAMS claimed that after he learned about the investigation into his conduct, he changed the password on November 5, 2024, and increased the complexity of his password from four digits to six. ADAMS had done this, he claimed, to prevent members of his staff from inadvertently or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone because, according to ADAMS, he wished to preserve the contents of his phone due to the investigation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How conscientious of him!<\/p>\n

Note that he also doesn’t have his phone set up to open through facial recognition, complicating the process since forcing someone to open their phone through facial recognition avoids a lot of Fifth Amendment self-incrimination issues if it’s non-testimonial<\/a>. Surely this is coincidence.<\/p>\n

So far, the government hasn’t cracked the code yet.<\/p>\n

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Another bombshell that emerged from today\u2019s hearing: the feds still haven\u2019t been able to get into Mayor Adams phone.<\/p>\n

Adams changed the password just before the agents seized it and told the fess he forgot it. https:\/\/t.co\/qb2LsQbpT7<\/a><\/p>\n

— Craig McCarthy (@createcraig) October 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n