An extortion case involving bikini-clad models, social media celebrities and racy images has sparked an intriguing legal debate over phone security and the Fifth Amendment.
The big question: Can authorities access potentially incriminating information on your phone by compelling you to reveal your passcode? Or is verbal access to your phone's secrets protected under the Constitution?
The case stems from the arrest of Hencha Voigt, 29, and her then-boyfriend, Wesley Victor, 34, last July on charges of extortion. Voigt and Victor threatened to release sexually explicit videos and photos of social media star "YesJulz" unless she paid them off, according to a Miami Police Department report.
Hencha Voigt, left, is accused of using X-rated photos and video to extort money from "YesJulz", right.
As part of the ongoing investigation into the case, prosecutors have sought to search Voigt's and Victor's phones and asked a judge to order the two to give up their phone passcodes.
Attorneys for the two suspects have pushed back, arguing that passcodes are equivalent to self-incriminating testimony that is protected under the Fifth Amendment.
"They're asking for the passcode so they can keep on searching what's on the phone -- which may be incriminating my client -- and then use that against her," Kertch Conze, Voigt's attorney, told CNN.
