White Collar Roundup - July 2018

Cell Phone Evidence Legally Searched in Basketball Corruption Case

In the prosecution of a corruption case in the Southern District of New York, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected a motion to suppress cell phone evidence based on a purportedly illegal seizure. The case involves the alleged bribery by Merl Code, who worked for an athletic-apparel company, and Christian Dawkins, who "was an aspiring business manager for professional athletes." The allegations are that Code and Dawkins paid bribes to certain high school basketball players bound for NCAA Division I universities or their families in exchange for commitments to attend certain schools and to retain Dawkins. At the time of their arrests, Code and Dawkins each had two cell phones. The arresting officers seized the cell phones incident to the respective arrests and subsequently applied for warrants to search the seized phones. The defendants filed motions to dismiss, arguing "that the warrants (1)