When William Montanez was arrested on drug and firearm charges in Tampa, Flordia last June, police threatened him with jail time if he refused to hand over the passcodes to his iPhones. Montanez refused anyway and spent 44 days behind bars before the charged were dropped. While few would choose jail, Montanez’s decision reflects a growing resistance to law enforcement’s power to peer into Americans’ digital lives. The main portals into that activity are cellphones, which are protected from prying eyes by encryption, with passcodes the only way in. As police now routinely seek access to people’s cellphones, privacy advocates see a dangerous erosion of Americans’ rights, with courts scrambling to keep up.
After the theft of 16 guns from a military armory in Worcester, Massachusetts, a 34-year-old Cambridge man who is no stranger to law enforcement has been arrested.
Army reservist James Morales' record dates back to 2009. The charges range from unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle to more serious accusations of domestic violence.
In 2011, Morales was charged with assault and battery and witness intimidation for allegedly punching his pregnant ex-girlfriend in Cambridge. According to court documents, she told investigators he threatened to hurt her more seriously if she called police. Those charges were eventually dismissed - which happens in many domestic violence cases.
In 2013, Somerville Police charged Morales with stealing a rental van with his 2-year-old daughter in the vehicle. Police say she wasn't in a car seat or restrained in any way.
A few days after that, back in Cambridge, he was charged with breaking and entering and beating his ex-girlfriend, then eight months pregnant, but she refused to testify against him.
In May of this year, he was charged with rape of a child with force in Cambridge for allegedly sexually assaulting his friend's young daughter.
That's why he was wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet - he was due to stand trial in Middlesex Superior Court in April of next year.
