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N.D.Cal.:Police view of what computer tech saw did not expand valid private search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant took his computer in for repair to a CompUSA store in 2005, and the repair person found child pornography and called the police. The police came and the repair tech showed the pictures. The computer was seized and a search warrant obtained for it. The police search prior to the warrant did not exceed the scope of the private search under Walter and Jacobsen. The police later came to arrest the defendant, and the his wife, who was seeking a divorce from him, consented to a search of his home office which she had equal access to. United States v. Tosti, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122168 (N.D. Cal. November 1, 2010).* The CI’s information was subjected to efforts to corroborate and he was brought before the issuing magistrate. His information was sufficient for probable cause...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 20, 2010 (boomark / email).