Pennsylvania dentist accused of groping patient seeks to protect phone from search warrant

A Pennsylvania dentist recently charged on suspicion of groping a patient and offering her free dental services for life has sought to protect his phone from a search warrant.

Albert Hazzouri, DDS, was charged June 29 with indecent assault and harassment for an incident that allegedly took place in May in which a female patient said he groped her and then offered her free dental services for life during a later phone conversation.

Attorneys for Dr. Hazzouri recently said a search warrant for his phone is too broad, a July 9 Times-Tribune report cited by Yahoo News stated.

The attorneys said the search warrant seeking to download all the phone's contents without a specified time frame violates his constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure. They filed a motion seeking a protective order of the phone, which stated that they hope Judge Julia Munley will assign a neutral party to review his phone for items only relevant to the case.

Deputy District Attorney Sara Varela said July 9 that the search warrant only seeks to obtain the phone and that a separate search warrant, once executed, will lead to the phone's contents being downloaded.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 20. Dr. Hazzouri is free on $75,000 unsecured bail.

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