SJC: Warrants Needed For Some Cell Records

BOSTON (AP) — The state's highest court has ruled that in most cases police must get a search warrant before obtaining cellphone records to track someone's movements.

In a 5-2 decision released Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled against prosecutors who wanted a murder suspect's cellphone records over a two-week period admitted as evidence.

The court ruled that obtaining so-called Cell Site Location Information over such a long period without a warrant based on probable cause was an invasion of privacy and a violation of the state Declaration of Rights.

State prosecutors argued that the information received from a third party, the cellphone company, was not specific enough to amount to an invasion of privacy.

The ruling came in the case of Shabazz Augustine, a suspect in the August 2004 slaying of his ex-girlfriend.