Judge orders Mon Ethos to return iPhone, other devices still in dispute

In a St. Thomas courtroom Wednesday, a judge ordered cybersecurity contractor Mon Ethos Pro Support to give V.I. Police a cellphone seized as evidence in a homicide case — but she emphasized that a separate dispute over other electronic devices remains unresolved.

V.I. Superior Court Judge Carol Thomas-Jacobs held a show cause hearing Wednesday to determine why police still had not returned the iPhone to Rasokemo Archibald, who was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

The district Criminal Division Chief of the V.I. Attorney General’s Office, Timothy Perry, explained that prosecutors do not oppose returning Archibald’s personal property, which is no longer evidence in the case. Police gave the phone to Mon Ethos for analysis and data extraction, and the department “has struggled to secure return of the property from Mon Ethos,” Perry said.