BC student gets computers back

The Boston Globe
BC student gets computers back

By Hiawatha Bray
Globe Staff / May 27, 2009


State Police yesterday returned electronic devices belonging to a Boston College computer science student, days after a state Supreme Court judge threw out the search warrant under which the equipment had been seized.

Associate Justice Margot Botsford said police lacked sufficient evidence for a dorm room search.

Warrant tossed

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Margot Botsford on Thursday said that Boston College and Massachusetts State Police had insufficient evidence to search the dorm room of BC senior Riccardo Calixte. During the search, police confiscated a variety of electronic devices, including three laptop computers, two iPod music players, and two cellphones.

Police obtained a warrant to search Calixte's dorm after a roommate accused him of breaking into the school's computer network to change other students' grades, and of spreading a rumor via e-mail that the roommate is gay.