Detectives in Florida have attempted to use a dead suspect's finger to unlock his phone, according to a US newspaper.
The Tampa Bay Times has reported that after 28-year-old Linus F Phillip was killed by police in Florida last month, two detectives went to a funeral home where they tried and failed to use the man's finger to unlock his phone.
Police said it was an unsuccessful attempt to access and preserve data on the phone to aid in the investigation into Mr Phillip's death and a separate inquiry into drugs.
Mr Phillip was killed when officers tried to arrest him on March 23 after smelling marijuana in his car. As he attempted to drive away, one officer was caught halfway out of the vehicle and another officer fired at Mr Phillip.
Mr Phillip's fiancé told The Tampa Bay Times that she "felt so disrespected and violated" after the police action in the funeral home.
Legal experts mostly agree that what the detectives did was legal, according to the newspaper, but they question its appropriateness.
Charles Rose, professor and director of the Centre for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University College of Law, said dead people cannot assert fourth amendment protections.
"While the deceased person doesn't have a vested interest in the remains of their body, the family sure does, so it really doesn't pass the smell test," he told The Tampa Bay Times.
"There's a ghoulish component to it that's troubling to most people."
