D.Md.: A SW for cell phone data going to Verizon in FL was within the court’s jurisdiction

Where the crime under investigation is in this district, it doesn’t matter that the search warrant for geolocation data from defendant’s cell phone is located in another district. The government can still get it by search warrant under Rule 41(b) and the SCA. United States v. Bustos-Andrade, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 213063 (D. Md. Dec. 29, 2017):

Notably, although not essential to this Court’s ruling, the statute’s legislative history supports this analysis. The SCA was amended in 2001 by the Patriot Act, which “sought to broaden the government’s ability to obtain warrants for electronic evidence, not limit it.” Kernell, 2010 WL 1408437 at *4. The House Committee on the Judiciary’s report on the amendment notes that, as amended, § 2703 would allow “the court with jurisdiction over the investigation to issue the warrant directly, without requiring the intervention of its counterpart in the district where the ISP [internet service provider] is located.” H.R. Rep 107-236, pt. 1, at 57 (2001). The purpose of this amendment was to obviate the need for cumbersome, time consuming, and costly coordination between agencies, prosecutors and judges “which could be devastating to an investigation.” Id. Accordingly, to read Rule 41(b) as the Defendant suggests would eviscerate the very purpose of the 2001 amendment. Defendant’s motion to suppress geo-location data obtained pursuant to the challenged warrant is therefore DENIED.

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