Opinion ID: 3043848
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Court Order for Cell Phone Records

Text: Following Capshaw’s arrest but prior to his indictment, the government applied for a court order, under 18 U.S.C. § 2703, directing various phone companies to disclose the stored telephone communications records for several cell phone numbers, including Capshaw’s. In support of its application, the government averred that: (1) Capshaw solicited Nathina Whitaker and Tate O’Neal to kill his estranged wife; and (2) he used his cell phone to make interstate communications with O’Neal and Whitaker in furtherance of this plot. A magistrate judge granted the government’s § 2703 application and required the phone companies to produce the cell phone records of Capshaw, O’Neal, Karen Whitaker, and Nathina Whitaker. 3 Case: 14-12873 Date Filed: 07/16/2015 Page: 4 of 13 Before trial, Capshaw’s counsel filed a motion to suppress “illegally seized evidence,” including documents discovered at Capshaw’s residence, but he did not seek to suppress the cell phone records. At trial, the government introduced Capshaw’s cell phone records into evidence. The records were limited to those in September-November 2009, which was the relevant offense period. The government separately introduced the cell phone records for Nathina Whitaker, Capshaw’s niece, and Karen Whitaker, Capshaw’s sister. 1 The government introduced this evidence to show that Capshaw used his phone, a “facility of interstate commerce,” in furtherance of his criminal plot.