Divided Court Upholds Drug Convictions in Phone Evidence Dispute

An Atlantic City, N.J. woman found guilty of a narcotics conspiracy lost her bid to undo the convictions after a federal appeals court said Tuesday that incriminating evidence obtained from her cell phone was properly admitted.

Rajeri Curry invoked her right to counsel before voluntarily providing law enforcement with the password to her cellphone. The evidence therefore wasn’t derivative of a constitutional violation, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said in a divided ruling.

The Fifth Amendment prohibits prosecutors from using compelled testimony in its case in chief. Curry’s testimony wasn’t compelled, the court said.

When ...