Rape charges dropped after deleted messages were recovered from iPhone.

Sydney, AU: A man's business and reputation are tainted, a young woman's HSC and mental health are in tatters and prosecutors have been ordered to pay more than $30,000 in legal costs for a bungled rape investigation on Sydney's northern beaches.

But it could have been worse still, if not for the trove of secrets stored in one of the world's most popular mobile phones.

In what may be the first time an iPhone's elephantine memory has saved someone accused of a serious crime, deleted data retrieved by a leading surveillance expert appears to have led to the dropping of five rape charges against a Sydney man.

The only thing standing between the accused man and five sentences of up to 14 years were the messages from the victim on his iPhone, which he had deleted to conceal the relationship.

The man's lawyer, John Gooley from Collins & Thompson solicitors, commissioned Gary Coulthart, a former covert operations policeman and ICAC surveillance expert, to plumb the depths of the accused man's iPhone.

Mr Coulthart retrieved more than 300 deleted texts and phone calls from the alleged victim, some of which appeared to undermine the allegations.


Link:
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/rape-charges-dropped-after-deleted-messages-recovered--from-iphone-20100727-10ueq.html