Details emerge about wife's iPhone in Michael Jace murder case

HYDE PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- New details have been discovered regarding the hacking of an iPhone that belonged to the murdered wife of "Shield" actor Michael Jace.

From the couple's Hyde Park home, Michael Jace called 911 to report a deadly shooting, telling the dispatcher he had killed his wife, April Jace.

"This is not a 'who-done-it' case. We are not saying it was somebody else who came in the house," said Jamon Hicks, his defense attorney.

What the actor's defense team believes is that information on April Jace's phone may explain more about an argument that preceded the shooting, showing a lower level of culpability. Instead of murder one, perhaps manslaughter.

What is revealed in court papers is that April Jace had an iPhone 5S, which is similar to the one used by the San Bernardino shooter and ultimately opened by an independent expert after Apple refused to help.

A search warrant shows that Apple did help the Los Angeles Police Department open April Jace's phone last year. It is not known from documents what level of assistance was needed.

What concerns the Jace defense team is what happened after data was extracted. When LAPD checked the phone this year, "the iPhone did not turn on."

Jace's trial was delayed as the LAPD and the defense team hired experts to not only re-enter the phone but pull out more data.

"What I will tell you is we have concerns about chain of custody. We have concerns about the moment that the phone was seized to today," said Hicks.

Experts say it can be difficult to extract data from a smart phone.

Anna Winningham is a former FBI agent who is now with the firm Risk Control Strategies, which helps companies access locked phones.

She said getting into your phone depends on the device, the expertise of the technician and your passcode.

Key is a toggle which will destroy your data if someone repeatedly hits the wrong password.

"On the 10th try, the phone would be then deleted - the contents of the phone," Winningham said.

As for Jace's case, data has now been retrieved. A defense expert will try to determine whether anything was lost in the process before the trial starts May 23.