CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) -- The legal battle between Apple and the FBI may be over for now, but the fight over tech privacy is not. And now the issue has made its way to Arkansas.
The FBI dropped its case last week after unlocking the phone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook without help from the tech giant.
The FBI still isn’t sure if they will be able to help, but Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland says access to an iPhone 6 and an iPod that might hold evidence in a double homicide.
Teenagers Hunter Drexler and Justin Staton are accused of murdering Staton's grandparents Robert and Patricia Cogdell last July.
Hiland believes an iPod and iPhone contain relevant evidence to the case.
The FBI’s possible agreement to help is putting a spotlight on the number of iPhones law enforcement say they are unable to unlock.
Eduardo Garcia, a UALR criminal justice instructor, says he teaches students both sides.
"Law enforcement has legitimate need to gain access to the information that they feel is viable and in support of their investigative capacity while the private sector is in a position to protect its own integrities."
Garcia says the legal dispute between the U.S. government and Apple has been a high-profile test of whether law enforcement should have access to encrypted phone data.
"This is a learning experience for law enforcement, this is a learning experience for the legal system, learning experience for judges."
Garcia says the Faulkner County case may be more challenging for the FBI.
"We're talking about an iPhone 6, which is a different generation phone in addition to an iPod. Naturally, it would be running on a 2008 operating system or later."
And he says the process of gathering that evidence is tricky too.
"Law enforcement needs to be very careful, because processing that information need be done in a highly specialized way or you can ruin the evidence."
Prosecutors say that recorded phone conversations between Staton and others since the arrest suggest that he used the iPod to communicate plans about the homicide.
