Proof is annulled because police read drug dealer cell phone notification

The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) upheld the decision that annulled the conviction of a person arrested with cocaine, considering that police officers violated the secrecy of data on a drug dealer’s cell phone by reading notifications on a blocked screen. The judgment in the case was published on August 14.

The occurrence occurred in Minas Gerais. Upon spotting, during patrolling, a known drug dealer on the back of a motorcycle taxi, the agents decided to approach him. A bag with 12 marijuana tablets was found in the operation.

Upon arresting the criminal, they saw an exchange of messages with someone else on the blocked screen of the cell phone and decided to go to her residence to find out. This second suspect, upon noticing the presence of the police, tried to flee and was arrested. Police found cocaine there.

The defense of this second suspect went to court, claiming that the arrest would be null and void, due to the fact that the police had violated article 5, item XII, of the Constitution, which deals with the inviolability of communications. When analyzing the case, the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJ-MG) accepted the thesis and annulled the evidence.

The Minas Gerais Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP-MG) appealed to the STJ arguing that there would only be illegality if the military had unlocked the cell phone and accessed information and applications of the person involved, as only in this case would judicial authorization be required. The STJ did not accept the thesis of the MP-MG and maintained the annulment of the evidence, even with the flagrant possession of cocaine.

penal guarantee

For the criminal lawyer, João Rezende, this topic is sensitive. According to him, the 5th and 6th panels of the STJ, which are the groups that deal with criminal matters, are more “guaranteeing” – a legal current that seeks to offer maximum respect for the defendant’s fundamental rights and procedural guarantees. However, this application has been given more frequently in crimes related to drugs.

“In my view, the decision of the STJ was correct, because for there to be a state intervention in the private life of the person, as in this context, a judicial decision is necessary to decree the breach of confidentiality of data. But if it were any other crime, of a different nature, I doubt they would also have this decision because that is not what has been happening. In reality, we only saw this when there is drug use ”, he points out.

Public safety researcher Fabricio Rebelo considers that decisions like this increase the breach of confidentiality and increasingly limit the police approach.

“Certainly, this type of guarantee generates negative effects on public safety. The more difficulties are created for police approaches to be validated, the less traffickers will be arrested. Because the consequence of this invalidation is to consider the entire chain of proofs null. And, without proof, the drug dealer ends up going unpunished,” predicts Rebelo.