FBI v Apple - Magistrate Facciola Cases

FBI v Apple
A research resource developed by Professor Clark D. Cunningham, W. Lee Burge Chair in Law & Ethics, Georgia State University College of Law
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Magistrate Facciola cases (D.D.C.)

John M. Facciola was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge in the District of Columbia in 1997, served as Chief Magistrate Judge, and retired from the bench in 2014. Prior to being appointed to the bench, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan from 1969-1973, and was in private practice in the District of Columbia from 1974-1982. Judge Facciola joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1982 and served as Chief of the Special Proceedings section from 1989 until his appointment as Magistrate Judge. Judge Facciola has been a frequent lecturer and speaker on the topic of electronic discovery. Judge Facciola is a member of the Sedona Conference Advisory Board, the Georgetown Advanced E-Discovery Institute Advisory Board and he is also the former Editor in Chief of The Federal Courts Law Review, the electronic law journal of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Judicial Center. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School where he teaches Information Technology and Modern Litigation. He has been described as the "jurist whose leadership has shaped the way e-discovery is approached, performed and governed by law." Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists.

John M. Facciola official biography (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)

Ann E. Marimow & Craig Timberg, Low-level federal judges balking at law enforcement requests for electronic evidence, Washington Post, Apr. 24, 2014

Patrick J. Cotter, Magistrates' Revolt: Unexpected Resistance to Federal Government Efforts to Get "General Warrants" for Electronic Information, The National Law Review, May 15, 2014

Reid Day, Comment, Let the Magistrates Revolt: A Review of Search Warrant Applications for Electronic Information Possessed by Online Services, 64 U. Kan. L. Rev. 491 (2015)

William Clark, Note, Protecting the Privacies of Digital Life: Riley v California, the Fourth Amendment's Particularity Requrement and Search Protocols for Cell Phone Search Warrants, 56 Boston College L. Rev. 1981, 1997-2007 (2015)

Adam M. Gershowitz, The Post-Riley Search Warrant: Search Protocols and Particularity in Cell Phone Searches, 69 Vanderbilt L.Rev. 585, 617-21 (2016)

On March 11, 2014, In the Matter of the Search of Black Iphone 4 Judge Facciola denied as overbroad a warrant application containing what he described as formulaic "boilerplate" language asking to "seize all records" contained in three cellular telephones including all text messages, voice mail messages, and photographs. Nine days later, on March 20, 2014, In the Matter of the Search of Odys Loox Plus Tablet he denied a warrant application to search a cell phone, laptop computer, tablet and digital camera because the government proposed to make mirror images of the data on all four devices without specifying procedures to avoid viewing material not within the scope of the warrant. Less than a week later, on March 26, 2014, In the Matter of the Search of Apple IPhone Judge Facciola denied yet another a cell phone search warrant applicantion, stating that as in the prior two cases the warrant application sought authorization to take and sift through massive amounts of data for which the government had no probable cause to seize in the first place and the government continued to refuse to explain how it would limit its search of data. "When searching electronic devices to seize the data, the potentail for abuse has never been greater," id, 31 F.Supp.3d at 167. In 2014 Judge Facciola had a criminal rotation once every three months, 13 F.Supp.3d at 155n.14; he retired at the end of 2014.

In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated With the Facebook Account Identified by the Username AAR-On.Alexis That is Stored at Premises Controlled by Facebook, Inc., Case 13-MJ-7242 (JMF), 21 F.Supp.3d 1 (D.D.C., Nov. 26, 2013)

In the Matter of the Search of Black Iphone 4, S/N Not Available, In the Matter of the Search of Samsung SGH-T989 aka Galaxy S II Cellular Telephone IMEI 359858/04/531905/8, S/N R31CC12PDBN, In the Matter of the Search of Samsung SGH-S150G Cellular Telephone, Black in Color, IMEI 564082/05/308324/2, S/N R21D5951DT, In the Matter of the Search of Western Digital TV, S/N WNT291019173, In the Matter of the Search of Western Digital Hard Drive, S/N WCAUK1341857, In the Matter of the Search of Western Digital Mybook Essential Hard Drive, S/N WCAZA5015009, Magistrate Case No. 14-235 (JMF), Magistrate Case No 14-236 (JMG-F), Magistrate Case No. 14-237 (JMF), Magistrate Case No. 14-238 (JMF), Magistrate Case No. 14-239 (JMF), Magistrate Case No. 14-240 (JMF), 27 F.Supp.3d 74 (D.D.C., March 11, 2014)

In the Matter of the Search of Odys Loox Plus Tablet, Serial Number 4707213703415, in Custody of United States Postal Inspection Service, 1400 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC, In the Matter of the Search of a Fuji-film Camera Finepix Containing a 16 GB Disc, Serial Number 2UG62662, In Custody of United States Postal Inspection Service, 1400 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC, In the Matter of the Search of an LG Cell Phone, Serial Number 107KPED087260, in Custody of United States Postal Inspection Service, 1400 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC, In the Matter of the Search of Sony Laptop Computer, Serial Number 275558235000498 in Custody of United States Postal Service, 1400 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC, Magistrate Case No. 14-265 (JMF), Magistrate Case No. 14-266 (JMF), Magistrate Case No. 14-267 (JMF), Magistrate Case No. 14-268 (JMF), 28 F.Supp.3d 40 (D.D.C., March 20, 2014)

In the Matter of the Search of Apple IPhone, IMEI 013888003738427, Magistrate Case N0. 14-278 (JMF), 31 F.Supp.3d 159 (D.D.C., March 26, 2014)

In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with [redacted]@mac.com That is Stored at Premises Controlled by Apple, Inc., Magistrate Case. No. 14-228 (JMF), 13 F.Supp.3d 145 (D.D.C., April 7, 2014), vacated sub nom, In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with [redacted]@mac.com That is Stored at Premises Controlled by Apple, Inc., Magistrate Case No. 14-228, 13 F.Supp.3d 157 (D.D.C., August 8, 2014)