Digital Forensics Dispatch

Evidence Tossed in Murder Case

February 4, 2020

Dale Ellis of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, writes that prosecutors in the murder trial of Tony Warren suffered a setback when the Circuit Judge tossed out a key piece of evidence. Warren, 21, was charged in April of 2019 for the shooting death of Clifton McDowell, 24 at the intersection of Iris Street and Howard Drive in Pine Bluff, AK. Warren was originally arrested on drug and firearm charges during a traffic stop in April where police found 21 grams of marijuana, a Springfield Armory semi-automatic handgun, a box of .45 ACP ammunition, digital scales, and a cellphone. Warren was then charged three days later in connection to the death of McDowell.

Counsel for Warren, Megan Wilson-Lowman, argued in a suppression hearing on January 7, 2020 to suppress evidence taken from the cellphone. Arguing that the search warrant policed used to collect incriminating information from the cellphone was too broadly written. Wilson-Lowman disputed that the warrant appeared to allow for the police to search for drug related activity when the police were actually searching for information relating to the shooting death of McDowell.

Evidence obtained from the cellphone indicated that Warren was around the area that the shooting took place, when he had originally claimed to be in Little Rock when the shooting took place. Circuit Judge Alex Guynn ruled that the search warrant was “overly broad” and that the search of the cellphone did not return any evidence that was cited in the search warrant.

Email:    Phone: 703.359.0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
https://senseient.com/services/digital-forensics