Man Butt Dials 911 While Discussing Murder Plot

from the those-phones-are-getting-smarter-all-the-time dept

Thu, May 23rd 2013 7:58am — Mike Masnick

We've had plenty of stories of dumb criminals being caught in surprising ways thanks to new technology. Particularly common are the criminals who confess via the internet. However, this next one is a new one: a Florida man named Scott Simon just happened to butt dial 911 at the very moment he was discussing plans to kill someone -- plans he followed through on moments later. It did not take long for the police to put two and two together and arrest Simon -- though, they're still looking for others who were with him. Of all the possible places that the phone could have accidentally dialed, it seems rather convenient that 911 was what it ended up on. Those "smartphones" really can be smart sometimes.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: butt dialing, florida, murder, pocket dialing, sam simon

27 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

silverscarcat (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 7:08am

And THIS is why...
I make sure my phone isn't in my pants.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Christopher Best (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 7:21am

Or you could just, I don't know, not murder people.

:P
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- silverscarcat (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 7:43am
  
  Re:
  But that would be reasonable!
  
  :P
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Jesse (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 1:16pm
  
  Re:
  What you ask is simply too much.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 May 2013 @ 8:13am

"Those "smartphones" really can be smart sometimes."

Not smart, it's just basic survival instinct. If you were stuck next to someone else's butt, you'd dial 911 too.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Zakida Paul (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 9:46am
  
  Re:
  You win 10000 internets today
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
average_horse_of_the_blue, 23 May 2013 @ 8:34am

At no point in this story does Mike say that murder is wrong. He's a murderer apologist. He parses words. Words bad.

He's words apolologist.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anon, 23 May 2013 @ 8:42am

His phone is probably password locked, but allows emergency calls (to 911) even if the phone is locked. I've accidentally dialed 911 on other phones before (which is why I don't keep my phone in my back pocket anymore). Fortunately I was at work, and not discussing murder plans.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Griffdog (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 8:47am

not so unusual
I carry my blackberry in my front pocket with the keyboard locked, and I still manage to butt dial 911 nearly every month. The phone allows making an "Emergency Call" even when it's supposed to be "locked", a feature that cannot be disabled. Doesn't require pushing any of the keyboard buttons, just the big roller ball. I'm sure it's supposed to be a "feature," but it's sure embarrassing when a very loud voice comes from my pocket asking me the nature of my emergency. Happened three times in one hour, once. I've since learned of a second way to lock the phone, but it gets disabled after receiving a call, so I still make an occassional accidental call to 911 when I forget to re-engage the lockout.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
David Muir (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 8:54am

The last thing we need is the 911 call centers clogged up with even more "non-emergency" calls. It is already a real problem when people dial on purpose and want to complain about their neighbor's dog barking for the last three hours. Of course it's okay if the nature of the call is: "If that dog doesn't shut up I will kill myself and then the rest of the neighborhood. Or something."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- eclecticdave (profile), 24 May 2013 @ 6:14am
  
  Re:
  "If that dog doesn't shut up I will kill myself and then the rest of the neighborhood"
  
  At first I felt sure there was a flaw there somewhere ...
  
  ... then I realised - your way is better!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jessie (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 8:54am

Well, I tried it out for everyone. Siri does not understand "I'm going to kill my wife". So don't worry, it's still safe to use Siri to help you plot your next murder.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Michael, 23 May 2013 @ 9:31am

911
Has anyone noticed that 911 was called to report that a murder was about to happen and THE MURDER STILL HAPPENED?

For all the complaining from law enforcement that they need to be able to record and listen to communications to protect us, it does not seem to do much good even when they are given the opportunity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mr. Applegate, 23 May 2013 @ 10:10am
  
  Re: 911
  Well to be fair, apparently it did lead to quick apprehension of the criminal who performed the act. I don't believe the ends in this case justify monitoring everyone's communications though.
  
  What you are talking about (preventing the crime) is something movies are made of (Minority Report), and even in the movies it proved to be a bad idea to punish people for what they think about doing.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Michael, 23 May 2013 @ 4:35pm
    
    Re: Re: 911
    So that whole "protect and serve" line is nothing but a gimmick?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Mr. Applegate, 24 May 2013 @ 3:28am
      
      Re: Re: Re: 911
      I wouldn't call "Protect and Serve" a gimmick. I don't think it means what it used to mean either.
      
      You have to remember that cell phones are not like land lines, there is no known service address. So depending on several factors including the exact model of the phone, and what features are turned on, the equipment that the 911 system utilized - and even the location where the call took place the information immediately available could be quite limited. There is no "respond here" address.
      
      They may well have had to contact the carrier to get the owner information, as well as triangulation information, which depending on location may yield an area as big as two or three city blocks for them to search. Granted they can do this fairly quickly, but it still takes time and according to the article the 911 called occurred just moments before the murder.
      
      I am not saying they couldn't have arrested him before he committed the murder, but they couldn't have charged him with murder either, only conspiracy to commit. I am also saying depending on location and equipment available to the local PD it could take time to locate the phone that made the call.
      
      It simply is not realistic to say, "they received the call they should have prevented the murder".
      
      Think of it like baseball. You know the batter is going to hit the ball, but the other team doesn't always catch the ball. Sometime the batter even gets a home run.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous, 24 May 2013 @ 3:38am
      
      Re: Re: Re: 911
      "To protect and to serve is a myth to us
      They protect their s*** and serve sticks to us."
      -Paris
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous, 23 May 2013 @ 2:50pm
  
  911...
  ...is a joke.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
PRMan, 23 May 2013 @ 9:53am

Why didn't they prevent it?
Maybe they didn't prevent it because it happened "a couple minutes later".

Another interesting fact: They are not releasing the 911 call. Was there even a call or is this always-on spying?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Doug D (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 10:32am
  
  Re: Why didn't they prevent it?
  As the pro-gun argument goes, "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away." As I don't know any of the circumstances I'm not saying the victim owning a gun would have prevented this murder, but the cops knew it was going to happen and still were only able to get there after the fact.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - eclecticdave (profile), 24 May 2013 @ 6:20am
    
    Re: Re: Why didn't they prevent it?
    As I also don't know the details I can't say for certain if the murder NOT owning a gun would have prevented this murder...
    
    Just sayin'
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - eclecticdave (profile), 24 May 2013 @ 6:21am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Why didn't they prevent it?
      Errm, murderer not owning a gun, I mean!
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
cosmicrat (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 11:40am

Could be a technique for law enforcement
Given how easy it is to butt dial 911 on certain phones, I'm almost certain that is the case here. But it raises a question. Could the police (or FBI, CIA, Blackwater, etc.) be listening on a phone, in which case such evidence is not admissible in court (unless warranted) and then, at a crucial moment, remotely trigger the phone to dial 911, thus capturing a recording that would be admissible? The defendant would have a hard time proving he didn't butt dial.

BTW I know Blackwater changed their name to Xe and most recently to Academi. Blackwater just sounds so much cooler.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Michael, 23 May 2013 @ 4:36pm
  
  Re: Could be a technique for law enforcement
  I'm fairly certain your tinfoil hat is crooked.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 May 2013 @ 12:53pm

He probably had the phone locked, most smart phones have a couple presses on the lock screen to dial 911.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
pjcamp (profile), 23 May 2013 @ 7:49pm

Roadmap
I guess this gives us a roadmap to the lumps in his ass.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
pao, 30 May 2013 @ 8:36pm

GOOD thing I put my cp inside the bag ....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]