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Search warrant affidavit sufficient to establish probable cause in child pornography case despite deficiencies

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

In United States v. Miknevich, 09-3059 (March 1, 2011), the Third Circuit was asked to determine whether an affidavit prepared by a law enforcement officer in child pornography case supported the district court's finding of probable cause. Defendant was charged with possession of child pornography after police executed a search warrant at his home and seized his computer. He entered a conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to challenge the district court's probable cause determination on appeal. In challenging the sufficiency of the affidavit, the defendant noted the following deficiencies: (1) the affidavit did not indicate that any investigating officer actually downloaded the suspect video file, (2) the affidavit did not indicate that anyone, including any other officers or the magistrate judge, ever actually viewed the suspect file, and (3) the affidavit contained no description of the suspected images or actions in the file...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on March 03, 2011 (boomark / email).