Suspect’s Locked Phone Causes Privacy Row at Illinois High Court

A dispute over the passcode to a phone central to a suspected fraud case forced Illinois Supreme Court Justices to grapple with the constitutional protections against self-incrimination and the limits of search warrants.

Keiron Sneed was arrested and charged with two counts of forgery. Sneed’s wife worked for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary International Dairy Queen Inc., and the Sneeds allegedly produced at least two fraudulent paychecks for Keiron, who wasn’t a Dairy Queen employee. The fraudulent paychecks were deposited with a financial institution using a mobile phone.

The case tests how far police and prosecutors can go to ...