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Committee advances cell-phone privacy bill after split testimony over defense access
Summary
House Bill 171 (fourth substitute) would limit copying of nonpublic, private data from victims' cell phones during discovery while preserving defense access to evidence. The committee approved the fourth substitute 3–1 after substantial testimony from prosecutors, victim advocates and defense attorneys who raised access concerns.
Representative Clancy presented the fourth substitute of House Bill 171, which is written to preserve vetting and discovery rights while restricting automatic copying of private, nonpublic data from a victim’s cellphone that is not relevant to the prosecution’s case. The sponsor said the policy mirrors protections in existing statute for child sexual-abuse material (CSAM) evidence: defendants’ counsel would retain access for review but would not automatically receive a copy of every downloaded item of private data.
Clancy gave the stalking-victim scenario used in committee discussions: even when a victim has never met an offender, a full forensic download can…
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