A woman who invoked the Fifth Amendment to protect herself from having to turn over a password as part of a criminal case has lost her appeal in federal court.

Ramona Fricosu must now turn over the password used to encrypt a hard drive that was seized during a search of her home as part of a mortgage fraud investigation in Colorado Springs, Colo. Investigators believe the laptop holds information that may be pivotal to the case.

The ruling was handed down Tuesday by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo., which said it lacked jurisdiction because the case has yet to be resolved in a lower court.

Woman pleading Fifth in password case loses appeal