7th Circuit strikes down Indiana statute banning sex offenders from social networking sites

In Doe v. Prosecutor, No. 12-2512 (7th Cir. 2013), the Seventh Circuit held that an Indiana statute banning registered sex offenders from social networking sites violated the First Amendment because it was "not narrowly tailored ... [to] the evil of improper communications to minors." This opinion reverses a district court opinion from last June. The statute, Indiana Code § 35-42-4-12, prohibited the use of social networking websites, chat room, instant messaging programs if the website allows minors to gain access or use. In its decision, the...

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EFF files amicus arguing for passengers to have standing in GPS surveillance cases

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed an amicus brief before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in an attempt to persuade the court that passengers should be given standing to challenge the use of GPS data acquired from devices on vehicles. Before the court are two cases related to GPS surveillance - Commonwealth v. Rousseau and Commonwealth v. Dreslinksi. The court defined the issues as: whether an affidavit demonstrated sufficient probable cause in support of an application for a warrant secretly to attach a GPS device...

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Court allows warrantless phone record search during arrest

Under arrest?  Then consider your call logs and phone contacts fair game for police search. In United States v. Martin, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183511 (E.D. Mich. 2012), in denying a motion to suppress evidence, the court held that officers were authorized to search defendant’s phone records during arrest.  In 2006, a series of drug related investigations culminated in the arrest of the defendant for conspiracy to distribute heroin. During the arrest, officers seized the defendant’s phone.  The defendant contended that the...

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6th Circuit vacates special conditions of supervised release in CP case due to court's failure to justify the conditions

In U.S. v. Widmer, No. 12-5135 (6th Cir. 2013), the Sixth Circuit vacated and remanded the special conditions of supervised release in the sentence related to a child pornography conviction. The defendant had admitted to downloading child pornography, and his computer contained seven images and 134 videos (which, under the federal guidelines, is calculated as a total of 10,057 images since each video is considered 75 images). Ultimately, he was sentenced to 97 months and five years of supervised release. On appeal, the defendant argued that the...

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Google report details law enforcement requests for data

Google released it's Transparency Report yesterday, detailing law enforcement requests for users' data from July to December 2012. The report shows that 68 percent of requests were for "user-identifying information" obtained through a subpoena. Twenty-two percent were probable cause search warrants. Throughout the six-month period, 21,389 requests were received by Google. According to Wired, Google requires a probable cause search warrant before it gives over actual content, despite the 2703(d) provision in the Electronic Communications Privacy...

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Minn. Ct. App. affirms suppression of CP images from cell phone, agrees phones may contain a weapon under Terry

In State v. Cooper, No. A12-1027 (Minn. Ct. App. 2013), the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the suppression of images of child pornography found on a cell phone because the search of the phone was not authorized under the search warrant. The warrant specified the search of phones "at the premises," but the phone in question had been seized by police in a traffic stop just prior to the search of the home. Officers had obtained a search warrant for the defendant's home as part of a drug investigation, and the warrant specifically authorized...

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Update: Full text of Ahrndt decision (motion to suppress granted)

I recently posted about the Ahrndt case on remand, and specifically, that the federal district judge granted the motion to suppress. The full text of the order/opinion can be found here: Ahrndt on Remand, D.Or. 1-17...

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Federal district court rules that images acquired from Internet cache are fair game in child pornography possession case

In yet another child pornography possession case, an Oregon federal district court made some interesting motion decisions. In U.S. v. Storm, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184056 (D. Oregon 2012), the court held that the evidence acquired from an electronic device’s unallocated space and Internet search files (cache files) can be introduced as long as it is not unfairly prejudicial.   The court also granted and denied in part the defendant’s motion to suppress a vast majority of the pornographic images that the government proposed to publish...

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Breaking: In important Fourth Amendment case (Ahrndt), federal district judge GRANTS motion to suppress

We previously wrote about United States v. Ahrndt in a series of posts, after the 9th Circuit remanded the case for further consideration of the defendant's motion to suppress. Yesterday, a federal district court in Oregon granted Ahrndt's motion to suppress evidence (CP) from his iTunes library obtained by his neighbor (and later law enforcement) through an unsecured wireless network. This is a very important development, and we will get further into it in another series of posts. Here is what we wrote, before: Ninth Circuit remands case...

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CFAA reform, DOJ dodges GPS tracking, Aaron Swartz stories - best of today's tweets from @Cybercrimerev

Hacking into person's social media accts, impersonating them, & creating online petition to get person fired = arrest. @HanniFakhoury @csoghoian @marciahofmann - Renaming #CFAA - suggestion: Law Catches up With Technology & Reality Act of 2013? #cybercrime - Anyone with suggestions, feel free to tweet back, or comment on the blog @MikeScarcella: Nightclub owner in landmark #GPS tracking case files new suit against authorities. Jones goes Bivens! “@TrendLabs: Have you ever wondered what cybercriminals do with stolen information?” - info=$$$...

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Report released detailing congressional employees' illegal downloading habits, CSI and Glee among most popular

We don't often discuss intellectual property issues here; though acts of copyright violation are a crime, the cases usually play out in civil suits. Also, there are many excellent blogs that already discuss the complexities of IP law, so we generally just avoid it altogether. However, there was one interesting release yesterday that I thought it worth noting. Scaneye, a service which "monitors BitTorrent network mainly for statistic purposes," released a report today showing a list of TV shows and movies downloaded over the House of Representatives'...

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Judge rejects party's offer to hand over blog credentials (login/password) instead of documents during discovery

In the highly contentious realm of electronic discovery where login passwords are zealously guarded, one plaintiff had no qualms about granting such access if it meant evading her burden of production in an acceptable format. In German v. Micro Elecs., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4594 (S.D. Ohio 2013), the trial court held it impermissible for a party to shift its burden of production due to the party’s refusal to produce the sought after electronically stored information (ESI) in an acceptable format. In a discovery dispute arising from an employment...

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Child taken away from mother due in part to depravity of online postings

If you're looking to nominate someone for mother of the year, this is not the case to look at. In Aaron B.D. v. Jennifer D. (In re K.B.D.), 2012 Ill. App. 121558 (Dec. 14, 2012), a trial court's verdict awarding the biological father of a young child custody over his biological mother was upheld, due in part to her postings on Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. While it isn't unusual for a court to look at online evidence in custody proceedings, this case appeared to focus quite heavily on the online activities of the mother and I thought the trial...

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Second Circuit reverses restitution award in CP case, explains proper formula for calculating the amount

In United States v. Hagerman, No. 11-3421-cr (2d Cir. 2012), the Second Circuit reversed and remanded an award of restitution to "Vicky", a victim of child pornography. The defendant was ordered to pay the remaining balance of Vicky's damages, but the Second Court found that he was only liable for the amount portioned to him after dividing the total damages by the total number of convicted defendants. The defendant had been convicted of receipt and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 96 months in prison, a life term of supervised...

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Judge Posner questions "superlong" 50-year sentence given to 46-year-old in CP production case

In United States v. Craig, No. 12-1262 (7th Cir. 2012), Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit offered a critique of lengthy sentences of elderly defendants. The defendant had been found guilty of producing child pornography after repeated sexual assaults against a friend of his children. He had also obtained images of the child by threatening to kill her unless she e-mailed him sexually explicit pictures of herself. A 30-year sentence was ordered for one count, and three 20-year sentences were ordered to be severed concurrently...

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Computer forensic delays a growing problem?

It is hard not to notice the growing number of cases that revolve around or discuss the delays associated with processing computer forensic evidence. Is there a growing problem? The short answer is yes, but it is hard to determine the scope and depth of the problem merely by analyzing disparate court opinions and news stories. It does appear to be a systemic problem, both at the federal, state, and local level. Here is some evidence: Recent cases (January 3rd, 2013) United States v. Montgomery, __ F.3d __ (10th Cir. 2013) - after obtaining...

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Montana district court finds privacy interests in messages not waived when owner voluntarily gives phone to law enforcement

In State v. Johnson, 2012 Mont. Dist. LEXIS 39 (Mont. Dist. Ct. 2012), a Montana federal district court held that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their incoming and outgoing text message communications.  The case involved an alleged rape that was reported by the victim earlier in the year. While the defendant admitted to having sexual intercourse with the victim, he maintained it was consensual. The victim voluntarily turned over her cell phone to law enforcement upon request. About 29,000 messages...

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Court holds that Jones concurrences do not provide that extended surveillance violates Fourth Amendment

In United States v. Brooks, No. CR 11-2265 (D. Ariz. 2012), the court held that the concurring opinions in the Supreme Court's 2012 Jones decision cannot be read to find that prolonged video surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment. Law enforcement had placed a camera on a service pole outside the defendant's apartment complex with permission from the property owner. The camera was able to zoom and pan. Using images acquired from the camera, the government was able to build a case against the defendant. At issue before the court was whether...

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Judge allows discovery of private Facebook postings and photos in sexual harassment case

In an order, found here: Reid v. Ingerman Smith, LLP (E.D.N.Y Dec. 27, 2012), Magistrate Judge Marilyn D. Go granted (and denied in part) a motion to compel discovery of plaintiff Reid's social media usage. The case itself revolves around a sexual harassment claim brought by Reid against Ingerman Smith for an incident while Reid was employed as a legal secretary. More details regarding the case can be found here (in an order to deny in part and grant in part a motion to dismiss the case, authored by Judge Glasser). Judge Go agreed...

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