A Nantucket District Court judge Friday ordered the man accusing Kevin Spacey of sexual assault to turn over his cellphone. Kevin Spacey made a surprise appearance Monday in court, where his lawyers argued they should be allowed to examine the phone to try to extract information they claim was deleted, including text messages they say would have helped Kevin Spacey disprove the allegations against him. Friday’s ruling from Judge Thomas S. Barrett orders that the phone be turned over by June 21 by whoever has it — the alleged victim; his mother, Heather Unruh; or the law office of Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who is representing the family on civil matters related to the case, although no civil suit has been filed. The order says the phone must be given to the desk officer at the State Police Troop D headquarters in Middleborough so the defense team’s forensic expert, or his designee, can pick it up.

Barrett’s order includes a reminder about previous rulings he made calling for preservation of the phone’s contents from the date of the alleged assault, July 7, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2017. He also ordered prosecutors and defense lawyers to come up with an agreement to limit who can view and share the phone’s information. Cape and Islands First Assistant District Attorney Brian Glenny said in a statement Friday evening: “The office is satisfied with the ruling”. Part of Spacey’s legal team’s strategy has focused on getting copies of information from the man’s cellphone and the phones of others he contacted.

According to police reports, the alleged victim used his phone to record footage of the incident via Snapchat. The alleged victim also texted and called his then-girlfriend the night of the encounter. Kevin Spacey’s Los Angeles-based attorney Alan Jackson said Monday that he believed cellphone records previously released to him by prosecutors weren’t complete or accurate. Jackson said that if he could access the phone, his own forensic expert could potentially resurrect items deleted from it. The next hearing in the case is set for July 8. The charge Kevin Spacey faces carries penalties of up to five years in prison or up to 2½ years in jail or a house of correction, and a requirement to register as a sex offender. The accusation emerged about a year before the criminal case began.

Source: Boston Globe

RELATED LINK: Kevin Spacey accusers deleted text messages that would have helped the actor

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