Amazon refuses to give police voice data from murder suspect's Echo

A Bentonville murder case caught the attention of privacy advocates Tuesday (Dec. Bentonville investigators found the Amazon Echo at the home of James Andrew Bates, 31, who was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in February in connection to the death of Victor Collins, according to the search warrant affidavit. Police found Collins' body in Bates' hot tub Nov. 2015 and a medical examiner ruled there had likely been a fight and Collins died from strangulation and drowning, according to a probable cause affidavit. Collins' body had cuts and bruises and investigators found blood in the hot tub, the affidavit states. After noticing the Echo in Bates' kitchen, investigators requested a search warrant for all the audio recordings and data from the device, according to court records.