Supreme Court Ruling: Haines City Man Freed After Case Is Overturned

AKELAND | With nearly five years left on his sentence, a 38-year-old Haines City man walked out of prison recently after a court ruled police had improperly searched a cellphone when they discovered thousands of alleged child pornography images.

The 2-to-1 decision came in September from a three-judge panel of the Lakeland-based 2nd District Court of Appeal.

That decision followed a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects cellphone data from unauthorized searches.

The 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office tried to appeal the 2nd District ruling, but the Florida Supreme Court rejected the request, saying that it would not take up the issue.

That allowed Matthew Willis to be released from prison Thursday.

Assistant Public Defender Bruce Taylor worked on the appeal for Willis, and he said the case’s outcome is a win for personal privacy in the digital age.

During a traffic stop in February 2012, Haines City police officers found drugs in Willis’ vehicle and, without a warrant, began searching his cellphone.

That’s when the officers came across more than 3,000 images they said were of child pornography, according to the opinion released in September.

“It was our position that the law enforcement officers were acting in good faith and followed the law that was in effect at the time of the arrest,” Chief Assistant State Attorney Brian Haas said.

Prosecutors disagree with the appeal court on whether the Supreme Court’s landmark June 25 ruling should affect a case that happened two years prior, Haas said, but the State Attorney’s Office has been working with law enforcement agencies on how to handle cellphone searches now.

“Because the Florida Supreme Court has declined to consider the appeal, there is nothing more we can do in this case,” he said.

Willis pleaded no contest in July 2013 to 20 counts of possessing child pornography and driving with a suspended license, according to the plea agreement, and he had served more than a year of his six-year prison sentence.

He was released because the only charge the appellate court judges left intact was a 60-day sentence for driving with a suspended license.

 

SOURCE