Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
In a recent opinion from an Arizona court involving child pornography, the defendant’s request for the court to reconsider his guilty verdict was denied. The defendant was found guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor under the age of fifteen. He filed a motion to suppress evidence, arguing that the officers who found incriminating information did not have the kind of warrant they needed to be able to legally search his home. The appellate court denied the appeal because it found that the warrant was, in fact, valid, even though it had been five months between when the warrant was issued and when the officers made use of the warrant to search for evidence.
The Facts of the Case
According to the opinion, AOL Inc. filed a report in March 2014 after having discovered an email with the subject line, “Re: trade” with an image attached that appeared to contain child pornography. Once officers in Arizona received notice of the image, they subpoenaed the internet service provider to obtain subscriber information for the person who sent the email. Five months later, the officers followed the warrant’s information to the defendant’s home address. They discovered hundreds of images that were classified as child pornography. While the officers were in the defendant’s home, the defendant also admitted to having possessed and distributed child pornography for several years.