Man in hazing death accused of deleting files before search
Posted May 10, 2019 3:23 am.
BATON ROUGE, La. — A former Louisiana State University student charged in the hazing death of a fraternity pledge is accused of deleting hundreds of files from his cellphone just before authorities could search it.
The Advocate reports prosecutors on Wednesday requested Google provide all information, content and deleted data from accounts associated with Matthew Naquin’s phone between August 2017 and that December.
He’s charged with negligent homicide in the 2017 death of 18-year-old Georgia native Max Gruver after a Phi Delta Theta hazing ritual requiring pledges to chug hard liquor.
Authorities say the 21-year-old Texas native erased the content on the same night authorities were granted the right to search it, and refused to provide the password. The FBI unlocked it in March.
Google generally complies with court-approved search warrants in criminal cases.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
The Associated Press
