Case 1:14-mj-00228-JMF Document 11 Filed 08/08/14 Page 3 of 21
-3that the government intended to seize, including specific
information that the electronic service provider, Apple, Inc.,
would be required to disclose.
See Govt.’s Application for a
Search Warrant (“Govt.’s Application”), Attach. A, Place to Be
Searched at 1; Govt.’s Application, Attach. B, Particular Things
to Be Seized by the Government at 1.
The magistrate judge
denied the government’s application for a search warrant in part
because the application failed to clearly indicate that Apple
was required to disclose e-mails in particular, and because
probable cause had not been established for all of the emails
requested in the search warrant.
In Re: Search of Info.
Associated with [redacted]@mac.com that is Stored at Premises
Controlled by Apple, Inc., Mag. Case No. 14-228 (JMF), 2014 WL
945563, at *2-3 (D.D.C. Mar. 7, 2014).
In addition, the
magistrate judge objected to the government’s use of Rule
41(e)’s “two-step procedure” 3 for gathering evidence whereby
Apple would first be required to disclose to the government all
e-mails associated with the target e-mail account, and then, at
3
Federal Criminal Rule 41(e) sets forth the requirements
for issuing a warrant, such as the information that must be
contained in the warrant and the proper protocol for executing
the warrant. Courts are permitted to issue warrants for the
“seizure of electronic storage media or the seizure or copying
of electronically stored information.” Fed. R. Crim. P.
41(e)(2)(B). Included in that provision is authorization for
subsequent off-site review of electronic information obtained in
accordance with the search warrant. Id. The rule expressly
“authorizes a later review of the media or information
consistent with the warrant[.]” Id.