Court Rules Forcing Parolees to Use Biometrics to Unlock Phones Is Lawful

• The Fourth Amendment and Forced Biometric Cellphone Searches
• Parolees and Cellphone Searches
• The Fifth Amendment and Forced Biometric Cellphone Searches

The forced use of a suspect’s thumbprint to open his cellphone, when the suspect is subject to a parole Fourth waiver, is lawful.  Forcing a suspect to open his cellphone via the use of his thumbprint does not violate that suspect’s Fifth Amendment self-incrimination privilege. Where a search warrant obtained for a suspect’s residence shows probable cause justifying the search even after redacting information obtained during an illegal security sweep of the residence, whether or not the security sweep was legal is irrelevant.

Defendant Jeremy Travis Payne was sentenced to three years in prison after having been convicted of assault upon a peace officer (P.C. § 245(c)), stemming from an incident that occurred in November, 2018.  Released on parole on September 23, 2020, defendant signed the standard “Notice and Conditions of Parole” document which included the following general search condition:  “You, your residence, and any property under your control are subject to search or seizure by a probation officer, an agent or officer of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or any other peace officer, at any time of the day or night, with or without a search warrant, with or without cause.”  Attached to that was a three-page “Special Conditions of Parol” document that included the following concerning electronic devices: “You shall surrender any digital/electronic device and provide a pass key/code to unlock the device to any law enforcement officer for inspection other than what is visible on the display screen. This includes any digital/electronic device in your vicinity. Failure to comply can result in your arrest pending further investigation and/or confiscation of any device pending investigation.”

On November 3, 2021, California Highway Patrol Officers Coddington and Garcia—assigned to the Coachella Valley Crime Gang Taskforce—observed defendant driving a gold Nissan in the Desert Hot Springs area with unlawfully tinted front windows; a violation of V.C. § 26708.  Upon making a traffic stop, an extremely ....