Hiiiar C. Moore, III STRICT Disrrict Arrorney, 1911 Ju East Baton Rouce Paris United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510-6050 Re: Going Dark: Encryption, Technology, and the Balance Between Public Safety and Privacy Dear Senators: | am writing to urge you to take the necessary measures to prevent Apple and Google from making their smartphones absolutely inaccessible to law enforcement, I value every citizen's right to privacy and fully support the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution and the resulting requirement of a search warrant in order for law enforcement to search smartphones. The protection that citizens enjoy from unreasonable search of the information on their smartphones is already as stringently protected as is the protection afforded from unreasonable search of their homes. tis inconceivable to me, that we as a country, would elect to afford criminals who consistently use their smartphones; to aid in the commission of their crimes, to hide evidence of crime, and to even intimidate witnesses to their crimes; an absolute protection against law enforcement discovery of evidence and use of evidence against them. AAs technology continuously improves, criminals figure out new ways to use their smartphones to aid in their criminal enterprises. Please do not let Apple and Google hinder law enforcement from protecting the public. Itis irresponsible for Apple and Google to provide this, technology without any check on its use to prey on potential victims. The evidence obtained from phones has been vital to the prosecution of murder, rape, and racketeering cases in my office. This evidence has also been used by local law enforcement to clear individuals suspected of crimes. Law enforcement is already feeling the effects of these changes. The case described below and reported in Baton Rouge City Police file number 36160-15 is only one example of a homicide that may go unsolved due to the inability of law enforcement to access the information on a cell phone. On Friday, April 24, 2015, at approximately 2238 hours, Uniform Patrol Officers responded to a Baton Rouge address in reference to a pregnant black female who had been shot. The victim was approximately 8 months pregnant and was rushed to the hospital threatening gunshot wounds. Detectives learned during the investigation that the victim and her 9 year old daughter had just arrived at home when an unknown person knocked on the front door. The 9 year old saw the victim open the door and heard an unknown black male ask Ornice oF THE Distaicr ATIORNEY 222 Sr. Lours StRest * STH FLooR + Baron Rouse, LA 70802 WWW.EBRDA.ORG * PHONE: 225-389-3400 » Fax: 225-389-5482the victim to use her car. The victim told the subject “no”, at which time he fired several shots striking the victim. The victim’s daughter hid in the bathroom until police arrived. The child told police that she did not see who was at the door and didn’t recognize the voice. The doctors removed the newborn from the victim's womb and then the victim died during surgery. The newborn was initially stable but died one week later. The victim’s IPhone 5 was seized during the execution of a search warrant at her residence and is passcode protected. The victim's family consented to the search of the phone and gave investigators several codes that they thought the victim might use. None of the passcodes worked and detectives were unable to access the phone. As of July 2, 2015 no arrest has been made in this matter. The victim's family Indicated that she recorded all activity on her phone and join law enforcement in their frustration due to the inability to access this phone, that would in all likelihood provide information necessary to obtain justice and remove this murderer from the street Respectfully, , By. HILEAR C. MOORE, Ill