State of Maine v. James R. Simmons; State of Maine v. Frederick A. Campbell

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court reviewed suppression orders concerning cellular telephone records seized under search warrants in the arson prosecutions of James R. Simmons and Frederick A. Campbell. The court held that the affidavits established probable cause to obtain historical cell site location data for Simmons's phone on June 21, 2012, but did not establish probable cause for Campbell's records or for Simmons's records relating to other information and dates. The court vacated that portion of the suppression order concerning Simmons's June 21 historical cell site data and affirmed the order in all other respects.

Holdings

1. The affidavits did not establish probable cause to believe that Campbell was involved in the June 21 fire or that evidence of criminality would be found in his cellular telephone records.
2. The affidavits did not establish probable cause to believe that James Simmons was criminally involved in the June 10 fire or that his cellular records for that night would contain evidence of criminal activity.
3. The affidavits provided a substantial basis for finding probable cause to seize historical cell site location records associated with James Simmons’s cellular telephone for June 21, 2012.
4. The properly supported authorization to seize historical cell site location data for James Simmons on June 21 could be severed from the unsupported portions of the warrants, so that the properly obtained data was not subject to suppression.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the affidavits established probable cause to seize Frederick Campbell’s cellular telephone records relating to the June 21, 2012 fire.
2. Whether the affidavits established probable cause to seize James R. Simmons’s cellular telephone records relating to the June 10, 2012 fire.
3. Whether the affidavits established probable cause to seize historical cell site location data from James Simmons’s cellular telephone for June 21, 2012.
4. Whether the properly supported portion of the warrants could be severed from unsupported portions so that the historical cell site location evidence would not be suppressed.

Disposition

other