You have likely used your cell phone every day for years without it causing you any major problems. So it might never cross your mind to limit your usage of it when you face criminal charges or feel you are likely to. However, it definitely should.
Here are some of the reasons why you’re better off putting your phone down right away:
You could produce evidence against yourself
You send a message to your friend to tell them the police have been snooping around or that they have arrested you. The conversation continues in more depth about why this is happening. If the police decide to search your phone at any point, they might find things in the conversation to use against you. Maybe you did not commit the crime, but the conversation states you were at the place where the crime took place and the police use this snippet to build their case that you did commit the crime.
These are just potential examples – but through them you can start to see how what you type into your phone could be problematic.
You could be accused of witness tampering
As soon as you hear the police sirens approaching, maybe you call some people to make sure they don’t say anything to the police about you or the situation. Or, perhaps you ask someone to cover for you and tell the police you were with them at the time of the crime. The police may find evidence of these conversations and use it to accuse you of witness tampering on top of any other charges you face.
The police have many ways of getting access to your cell phone history, from getting a warrant to search it, to issuing subpoenas to the companies whose services you were using on your phone, such as Google or your phone company.
If you suspect you are about to face problems with the police, calling for legal guidance is the best thing you can do with your cell phone.