Reasonableness of length of time in consent search examined

A recent Eleventh Circuit case found that it was reasonable for law enforcement to wait nearly 11 months to search a computer that was obtained by consent. After signing a consent statement, Philip Edwards said he would like to have the computer back "sooner than later." At no point thereafter did he try to revoke consent. As a result of various delays, a search warrant was not obtained for 34 days, and the computer was not analyzed until ten months later. The court held that because there was no revocation of consent and since Philip...

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PA appeals court finds text messages not properly authenticated

In Commonwealth v. Koch, 2011 WL 4336634 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011), the court held that text messages were not properly authenticated and should not have been admitted as evidence. The detective "testified that he transcribed the text messages, together with identifying information, from the cellular phone belonging to Appellant. He acknowledged that he could not confirm that Appellant was the author of the text messages and that it was apparent...

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Arguments that just don't cut it

There are arguments in every case that won't hold up, but there are others that are downright laughable. Here are a few of those not worthy of an entire post. (I'm paraphrasing these, of course.) "It wasn't me that downloaded the child pornography. It was my Internet Service Provider (ISP). You should have suspected them from the beginning." (United States v. Larson, 2011 WL 3837540 (W.D. Miss. 2011)) "Since I purchased someone else's passport and Social Security card, it wasn't “without lawful authority” for me to try to get a US passport...

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Tech Watch: BitTorrent to release television

BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer networking service that uses "advanced, innovative technologies to efficiently move large files across the Internet," is releasing a television that will allow users to find, download, and play media found on the BitTorrent network. The computer software has been around for years, but is a little complicated for the average user. After installing the software, the user must find and download a torrent for the file they...

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FYI: Metadata not found on VHS tapes

In search for child pornography, an ICE agent obtained a search warrant for "any computer, computer system and related peripherals; tapes, cassettes." When the search warrant was executed, he found that the suspect used WebTV instead of a computer to access the Internet. The agent confiscated VHS tapes, believing that they would contain metadata. At trial, the agent "admit[ted] it never occurred to him that VHS tapes were analog tapes and that...

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Court finds warrant needed in memory card search

A district court held that a search of a memory card was unconstitutional after the card was found in the arrestee's pocket upon arrest. United States v. Jenkins, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96296 (N.D.W.V. 2011). Police were following the defendant, believing he had stolen a four-wheeler. He was ultimately caught, and law enforcement noticed a digital camera nearby. The defendant immediately declared that it was not his. The court found a search of the camera and the memory card inside to be constitutional because the camera had been abandoned. Upon...

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