"When he finally provided a passcode, the phone appeared to restart. The defense motion states that "the screen went blank, flashed several times, and the phone appeared to restart," resulting in the loss of data."
I dont use grapheneOS, but it seems he activated a self-destruct code after being arrested.
That's always been illegal, and computers don't change that:
Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States (2005)
On the surface this case sides with evidence destruction, except
"Chief Justice Rehnquist noted that routine document management is not inherently corrupt; to be a felony, the government must prove the defendant had a "consciousness of wrongdoing" and a specific intent to obstruct a known or imminent proceeding" [1]
He fellow obviously had a consciousness of wrongdoing since he purposely set the delete triggers off during a police interrogation!
[1] https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/04-368
I dont use grapheneOS, but it seems he activated a self-destruct code after being arrested.
That's always been illegal, and computers don't change that:
Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States (2005)
On the surface this case sides with evidence destruction, except
"Chief Justice Rehnquist noted that routine document management is not inherently corrupt; to be a felony, the government must prove the defendant had a "consciousness of wrongdoing" and a specific intent to obstruct a known or imminent proceeding" [1]
He fellow obviously had a consciousness of wrongdoing since he purposely set the delete triggers off during a police interrogation!
[1] https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/04-368