Residents of Miami Christopher Wheeler, suspected of ill-treatment of a child, were obliged to present police access to the iPhone, locked with a password, transmits a local resource Miami Herald. The American refused, saying that locking the phones with a password is protected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, so users are not obliged at the request of the police to provide access to their gadget.

Wheeler will have to spend six months in prison if he does not agree to provide access to the contents of his seized iPhone. The police suspect that he has pictures that contain scenes of violence against his child.

Law enforcement officials suspected an American of committing a crime. To obtain evidence, the police required access to his iPhone. However, the smartphone is protected with a password, and the suspect refused to name it. Wheeler referred to the legal right not to testify against himself.

The police have no right to crack devices protected by code, or to require the suspect to unlock the gadget. Knowledge of the password is not a physical object and is protected by the Fifth Amendment. However, the Miami court ruled that the protection of data through a password does not fall under the Fifth Amendment and required the defendant to give the police access to his smartphone.

According to lawyer Wheeler, the authorities violate the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, according to which a person accused of a crime should not be forced to testify against himself. Nevertheless, the judge decided to leave the suspect in jail for six months, if he does not agree to provide access to the content of the iPhone.