A Florida man was placed behind bars for failing to unlock his phones following a traffic stop.
Fox 13 News reported William Montanez was pulled over in June for improper yielding in Tampa.
He wouldn’t allow cops to search his car, so a drug-sniffing dog was brought in. A small amount of marijuana was allegedly found, and cops asked to search his cell phones.
Montanez was originally in court facing drug charges after he was pulled over for not properly yielding. A small amount of marijuana was found along with a suspicious liquid substance. Deputies say the results of a field test proved the substance was THC, an illegal drug.
Deputies then wanted to go through Montanez’s cell phone, but he fought that in court.
His attorney, Patrick Leduc, called it a “fishing expedition” and a civil rights violation.
“Can a person be compelled to open up their privacy protected information on their phone simply because they were arrested on something unrelated to the cell phone?” questioned Leduc.
During the trial, prosecutor Tony Flacone disagreed. “I think it’s appropriate the court order the defendant to show cause.”
The story gets more interesting as the FDLE test on the “suspicious liquid” showed that was Men’s cologne. The field test was wrong.
The appeals court judge approved his release and Montanez was free a free man. He’d sat in jail for over a month. His mom, Patti Montanez, says he turned 25 behind bars.