United States v. Lichtenberger

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Lichtenberger lived with Holmes, his girlfriend, at her mother’s home. Friends told Holmes that Lichtenberger had been convicted of child pornography offenses. Holmes requested that the police escort Lichtenberger off the property. Officer Huston determined that Lichtenberger had an active arrest warrant for failing to register as a sex offender and arrested him. Later, Holmes went into their shared bedroom and retrieved his laptop. She later testified that he “would never let me use it or be near him when he was using it and I wanted to know why.” Holmes hacked the laptop, changed the password, and found images of adults engaging in sexual acts with minors. Huston returned. Holmes showed Huston those images and gave him Lichtenberger’s cell phone, flash drive, and marijuana. Lichtenberger was indicted for receipt, possession, and distribution of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2), (a)(4)(B), and (b). The district court granted a motion to suppress, finding that when Huston directed Holmes to show him what she had found, Holmes was acting as a government agent. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, stating that there are extensive privacy interests at stake in laptop searches and Huston had far less than “virtual certainty” regarding what he was going to see when Holmes showed him what she had found. View "United States v. Lichtenberger" on Justia Law