Cell phone location data used to track down Logan Clegg just days before he was scheduled to board a plane to Germany was improperly obtained, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
The ruling does not guarantee a new trial for Clegg, who was convicted of killing Stephen and Wendy Reid in 2023, but does mean prosecutors may have less evidence available if a new trial is ordered.
In a unanimous but unsigned opinion, the court’s justices said that Concord police detectives violated Clegg’s constitutional rights against unreasonable searches when they failed to obtain a warrant before contacting Verizon for cell phone location and text data. Police said they were concerned that obtaining a warrant could lead to delays.
After obtaining his location and a list of recent contacts in greater Burlington, Vermont, authorities tracked Clegg to a public library, where he was arrested: A gun, a fake Romanian passport, and $7,000 in cash were found inside his backpack.
In April 2022, the Reids were shot on a walking trail near their home, a seemingly random killing that sparked fear and led to a monthslong manhunt. At trial, Clegg maintained his innocence, and no motive was ever offered. He was found guilty and sentenced to up to life in prison.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court’s ruling does not free Clegg, nor guarantee he will receive a new trial. Instead, the justices are ordering a lower court to consider whether the evidence obtained without a warrant may have reasonably been obtained through another avenue. Then, the state’s highest court will determine whether to order a retrial.
“We’re pleased the court recognized the seriousness of the privacy issues in this case,” Maya Dominguez, an attorney with the New Hampshire Public Defender’s office, said. “We maintain that Logan Clegg is innocent and will continue to advocate for him as the case moves forward.”
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said it was reviewing the decision and “will take appropriate action.”
Before Clegg’s trial in 2023, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge John Kissinger oversaw a multi-day hearing that focused on how police obtained cell phone data in the case, and whether that evidence would be admissible. Kissinger ruled that detectives were faced with “exigent” or emergency circumstances, given both the seemingly random nature of the violence and Clegg’s purchase of a plane ticket, and were justified in not obtaining a warrant before contacting Verizon.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court disagreed, though, ruling that detectives could have applied for the warrant and simultaneously requested location data from the cell phone company.
“We acknowledge that there was considerable evidence before the trial court that the defendant posed a substantial threat of danger to the public,” the justices wrote. But they said that obtaining a warrant for Clegg’s cell phone data was still required under the constitution. They noted that “five months had elapsed between the murders and the initial exigency request and that there was no evidence” that Clegg had committed any additional crimes.
In the days immediately after the Reids' disappearance, authorities interviewed a man who identified himself as Arthur Kelly living in a tent in the same stretch of woods near their apartment. Authorities attempted to speak with him a second time, but returned to find his campsite completely burned.
Following a six month manhunt, authorities tracked Kelly, who they say is an alias used by Clegg, to South Burlington, Vermont, after Homeland Security informed police that he purchased a one-way ticket to Berlin, Germany, departing in a few days time. At the time, Clegg was wanted on an alleged parole violation stemming from a criminal case in Utah.
“Believing that the defendant intended to leave the country in approximately 56 hours, [Concord detectives] attempted to ascertain his location by requesting from Verizon location data connected to his phone number,” the court wrote. “CPD was ‘under the impression that a request to Verizon made with a warrant could take days or weeks to process before cell phone location data would be produced.’”
Verizon works with law enforcement agents under emergency circumstances to provide limited tracking data. But the court ruled that Concord detectives should have applied for a search warrant, in addition to requesting emergency help from Verizon.
“It is unreasonable that any individual’s freedom from governmental intrusion might be curtailed by virtue of how long it may or may not take a third party to respond to a warrant,” the court said.
The justices noted that even if the detectives weren’t able to obtain cell phone location data due to delays, authorities still could have intercepted Clegg at the airport prior to his departure.
Clegg, who is now 30, was sentenced to a 100-year prison sentence.
