Radio location searches can be authorized solely when it's suspected that a severe crime has been committed.
A radio cell search is a method where telecommunications data is collected within a specific area at a certain time. However, it can only be ordered when there's a strong suspicion of a serious crime, emphasized the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in a judgement released on Wednesday.
In this case, a man accused of armed robbery is having his trial partially re-heard by the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main. He was initially sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison. The district court used the findings from the radio cell search to convict him as it showed that he was near the crime scene at a specific time.
However, these findings shouldn't have been used as evidence, as the BGH stated that suspicion of theft isn't enough for this kind of order. The court specifically mentioned murder and robbery as examples of serious criminal offenses that warrant such a search.
The Frankfurt district court had also obtained other pieces of evidence such as a deposit into the defendant's account the day after the robbery and a text message from a co-defendant. Even without the cell phone data, the regional court might have made a more favorable decision for the defendant, the BGH noted.
The case will now be re-opened, and another criminal chamber in the regional court will re-evaluate the evidence.
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The BGH decision stated that radio cell interrogation can only be authorized if there's a suspicion of a criminal offense as serious as murder or robbery, overruling the initial use of such evidence in an armed robbery case. The defendant in this case was suspected of committing a criminal offense based on evidence beyond the radio cell search, which was also mentioned in the BGH's ruling.
Source: www.ntv.de
