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Computers and plain view

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The seizure of defendant’s laptop computer in this child pornography case was reasonable under the plain view doctrine. The child’s information said that there was child pornography on the computer and it needed to be seized rather than left behind because defendant could alter it if he learned about the investigation before the search warrant was issued. Also, the child had free access to the computer, and she could consent to its search and seizure. There was a little bit of plain view search of the computer too, but it was not outcome determinative. United States v. Vallimont, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 9651 (11th Cir. May 11, 2010) (unpublished): First, we reject Vallimont's claim that the seizure of his computer was unconstitutional...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 14, 2010 (boomark / email).