Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/135354831/IRS-Search-Warrant-Handbook-2009
Timestamp: 2018-05-22 01:00:23
Document Index: 738887221

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2680', '§ 2680', '§ 2701', '§ 2000', '§ 270', '§ 2703', '§ 2000', '§ 2000', '§ 2000']

IRS Search Warrant Handbook 2009 | Search And Seizure | Virtue
Office of Chief Counsel Criminal Tax Division
PREFACE Criminal Tax attorneys frequently provide legal advice to Criminal Investigation personnel with respect to search warrant applications. To assist in evaluating such applications, this handbook provides an overview of search warrant law, The overview provided herein is not intended to take the place of thorough legal research with respect to a particular search warrant application. This handbook does not create or confer any rights, privileges, or benefits on any .person, It is not intended to have the force of faw or of a statement of Internal Revenue Service policy, See United States v. Caceres, 440 U.S. 741 (1979), s/Edward F. Cronin EDWARD F. CRONIN Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) Internal Revenue Service
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............ ; ..................................................................................... 1
A, Primary Authorities ..................................................................................... 2 1, 2, B. 2 Fourth Amendment .......................................................................... , .................. 3 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 41 .............
~ ..................................4 Primary Legal Issues ...............................................
4 Reasonable Expectation of Privacy ................................................. Probable Cause ...........i .......................................... " ......................... 4 Particularity ...................................................................................... 5
5 REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY .................................................... A. B. Subjective Expectation of Privacy ..............................................................5 Reasonableness ..............................................¯ ........................................... 6
PROBABLE CAUSE ................................................................ i ............................ 9 A. B. C. D. Standards of Review ........................ ~ ........................... : .............................. 9 Factual Showing ...............................~ ....................................................... 10 Agent’s Conclusions .....................i ......................... , ................................. 10 Informants ................................................................................................ 12 1. 2. 3. 4~ 5. E. . ............12 Totality-of-the-Circumstances Analysis ............................ Factors Considered ...................." ................................................... 13 Criminal Activity of informants .......................................................14 Anonymous and Confidential Informants ....................................... 15 Corroboration ................................................................................ 15
Staleness ................................................................................................ 17 1. 2. Factors ................................................................................ , ......... 18 Ongoing Pattern of Criminal Activity ................................. i ............18
Business Records ......................................................................... 19
F. Anticipatory Search Warrants .................................. : ......... : ...................... 19 G. ¯ ..................................... Effect of False Statements or Omissions .......... 1. 2. IV. 20 Material False Statements ............................................................. Material Omissions ........ : ............................................... " ................ 21
i .......................................... i ..................................... 22 PARTICULARITY ............... A. B. C. D. ,.... .................................................... 22 Generality vs. Overbreadth ............... Standards of Review ............................................:..i ................................. 24 Place to be Searched ............................................................................... 25 Items to Be Seized ........................................................................ ~ ..... ~ ....26 1. 2. Factors Considered ........................................................................ 28 Best Practices ................................................................................ 28 a. b. c. d. e. 3. 4. ~ .............................. 29 Inclusion of All Available Information .... 30 Reference to Criminal Violations ......................................... Reference to Time Frame .............. ~ .................................... 32 32 Incorporation and Attachment of Affidavit ............................ Examples ................................................. ~ ....................... 33
¯ Generic Descriptions ................................" .......... ~ .......................... 34 Catch-All Phrases .............................~ ............................................ 35 a. ’b. 35 "Including but Not Limited to". .............................................. ~ ........................... ~...36 Other Catch-All Phrases ......................
"Permeated With Fraud". ...............................................................38
41 EXECUTING THE WARRANT: THE PLAIN VIEW DOCTRINE ......................... A. General Requirements .................. 42
Immediate Apparency~ ..................................... . ........................................ 43
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45 REMEDIES FOR UNLAWFUL SEARCHES AND SEIZURES ............................ A, The Exclusionary Rule ..............................................................................45 1. 2, 3. 4. 5. B.. 46 Total vs. Partial Suppression ......................................................... Good Faith Exception ......................................................... : .......... 47. Attenuation Exception ....................................................................50 51 Independent Source Exception ..................................................... Inevitable Discovery Exception ............... , ........................................ 52
" ................ 54 Agent. Liability and Qualified Immunity ......................................
C. Government Liability .................. . .......................... . .................................... 55 VII. 55 COMPUTER~RELATED SEARCHES AND SEIZURES ..................................... A. B. C.. D. E. 56 Reasonable Expectation of Privacy .......................................................... Probable Cause ........................................................................................ 56 Particularity .......... ~ .............. i ........... ¯ .......................................................... 57 " .......59 Ninth Circuit Procedural Requirements .............................................. 59 Privacy Statutes that May Apply to Computer Searches .......................... 1. 2. 59 The Stored Communications Act ................................................... The Privacy Protection Act ............................................................60
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search; threw her to the ground, and handcuffed her so tightly as to cause pain. Assuming these allegations to be true, the court concluded that the agent’s conduct violated the Fourth Amendment, that a reasonable agent in his position would have known that it did, and that therefore the agent was not entitled to qualified immunityon those charges. 342 F.3d at 1059. However, with respect to the plaintiff’s claim that detaining her in handcuffs dudng the search was unlawful, the court held that even though the agent had violated her constitutional rights, he was entitled to qualified immunity as to this portion of her claim. The court explained that, at the time of the search, the case law had not clearly established that this conduct~violated the plair~tiff’s constitutional rights. Id. at 1065. Qualified immunity was held not to apply with respect to any of the claims brought against IRS agents in Tekle v. United States, 511 F.3d 839 (gth Cir. 2007). tn that case, the agents executed search and arrest warrants at the home of the plaintiff’s parents, who were suspected of narcotics trafficking and tax-related offenses. Dudng the search, the agents allegedly held a gun to the head of the eleven-year-old plaintiff, who was unarmed and barefoot, handcuffed him, pulled him up by the chain of the handcuffs, and detained him with the handcuffs on for approximately 15 minutes and then for an additional 10-15 minutes with guns still drawn. The plaintiff brought a Bivens action against the agents for the use of excessive force and for subjecting him to an unreasonable detention. The Ninth Circuit held that agents were not entitled to assert qualified immunity because "a reasonable officer should have known that it was constitutionally excessive to use such force and to use the handcuffs in the manner alleged against an unarmed elevemyear-old child who was fully complying with the officer’s requests." 511 F.3d at 856. C. Government Liability In addition to claims against individual officials, the Federal Tort Claims Act ("F.T.C.A.") provides that a civil action alleging an illegal arrest, search, or seizure by a federal officer may be brought directly against the United States government. 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h). The relevant portion of§ 2680(h) provides that the federal government is not immune to suit with regard to "acts or omissions of investigative or law enforcement officers of the United States Government~’ for "any claim arising ... out of assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, abuse of process, or malicious prosecution." ld. The provision defines "investigative or law enforcement officer" as "any officer of the United States who is empowered by law to execute searches, to seize evidence, or to make arrests for violations of Federal law." id. V!!, COMPUTER-RELATED SEARCHES AND SEIZURES
Computer*related searches and seizures are subject to the same Fourth Amendment requirements that apply to any search or seizure: a warrant is generally required if the target has a reasonable expectation of pdvacy in the computer to be searched, and the warrant application must be evaluated.for probable cause and particularity. However, the legal analysis of these issues must take into account the unique characteristics of computers, which enable users to-store vast amounts of
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information and to share or restrict access to that information in various ways. Further, when searching computers, law enforcement agencies are subject to specific restrictions and obligations under the Stored Communications Act ("SCA"), 18 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq, and the Privacy Protection Act ("PPA"), 42 U .S,C, § 2000aa et seq. A. Reasonable Expectation of Privacy The analysis of an individual’s expectation of privacy with respect to a computer depends on the !ocation and ownership of the computer and the extent to which it may be accessed by others. Courts have held that an individual generally has a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to his or her home computer. See United States v. Lifshitz, 369 F.3d 173, 190 (2d Cir. 2004); Guest v. Leis, 255 F.3d 325, 333 (6th Cir, 2001). Conversely, an employee may have a reduced expectation of pdvacy in his or her office computer, especially if that computer is subject to some level of monitoring by his or her employer. See United States v. Simons, 206 F.3d 392, 398 (4th Cir, 2000). When two or more individuals share a computer, or when an individual’s computer has f~le-sharing software or is attached to a network, courts must engage in a fact-intensive analysis to determine whether Fourth Amendment protections apply. In . such situations, if access to files is limited by a password or other means, there may be a reasonable expectation of privacy, See Trulock v, Freeh, 275 F.3d 391,403(4th Cir. 2001 ); United States v. Heckenkamp, 482 F,3d 1142, 1146 (9th Cir. 2007)~ Like flies shared over a network, emails and other transmissions generally lose their reasonable expectation~ privacy and thus their Fourth Amendment protection once they have been sent from an individual’s computer. See United States v. Lifshitz, 369 F.3d at t90; Guest v..Leis, 255 F.3d at333. A similar principle applies to a computer user’s subscriber information, which is shared with an internet service provider and is therefore not subject to Fourth Amendment protections. See United . States v. Perrine, 518 F.3d 1196, 1204 (10th Cir~ 2008), B. Probable Cause As with all searches, if there is a reasonable expectation of pdvacy and the warrant requirement applies, applications for computer-retated warrants must be evaluated for probable cause, in general, the probable cause analysis for computerrelated searches is no different from the analysis for other searches. See United States v. Giberson, 527 F.3d 882, 888~89 (9th Cir. 2008) (stating, with respect to a computer search for tax records and other documents, that "the potential intermingling of materials [on a computer] does not justify an exception or heightened procedural protections for computers beyond the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement,"). But see United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc,, 579 F,3d 989 (9th Cir. 2009) (an banc) (imposing new procedural requirements with respect to the search and seizure of electronic data from a non-suspect third party). As with other types of searches, the connection between the place to be searched and the items to be seized may be inferred if that inference has "common sense appeal." United States v, Perry, 531 F.3d 662,665 (Sth Cir. 2008),
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For example, in United States v. Khanani, a case involving immigration violations, money laundering conspiracy, and the evasion of federal employment and income taxes, the defendant contended that the seizure of his computers was without probable cause because the affidavit submitted with the warrant application provided no fact-specific reason to believe there were computers in his office, or that his computers had been used to facilitate the commission of any of the alleged criminal violations, 502 F.3d 1281, !290 (11th Cir. 2007). The court disagreed, noting that the affidavit described the defendant as an accountant for one of the co-conspirators and that one of the tax returns for that individual had been found in the trash outside the defendant’s office: While the Master Affidavit did not indicate that it was a computergenerated tax form, in reviewing the affidavit to ascertain whether it furnished probable cause for the warrant sought, the affidavit is given a "common sense and realistic" interpretation, o.~ Additionally, [a witness for the government] testified, that prior to the warrant application, he had entered [the defendant’s] office and observed connected computers. The district court did not err in concluding that the allegations of the Master Affidavit were sufficient to provide probable cause for the seizure of computers from [the defendant’s] accounting business. Id. (citations omitted). As this quotation indicates, the same "common sense" standard that applies to probable cause determinations .in general also applies in the context of computer-related searches and seizures. See Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213,238 (1983) (".The task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, commonsense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, .... there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a cdme wilt be found in a particular place."). C. Particularity Computer technology poses unique challenges with respect to the particularity requirement, Because computers are capable of stodng and intermingling a great deal of information, and because computer data may be mislabeled or otherwise concealed, it may be difficult to draft a computer search warrant that is comprehensive without being overbroad. This potential for overbreadth, however, underscores the importance of drafting computer search warrants with sufficient particularity, See United States v. Otero, 563 F.3d 1127, 1132 (10th Cir. 2009) ("The modern development of the personal c6mputer and its ability to store and intermingle a huge array of one’s personal papers in a single place increases taw enforcement’s ability to conduct a wide-ranging search into a person’s private affairs, and accordingly makes the particularity requirement that much more important."). In Otero, a case involving charges of mail fraud and credit card theft against a postal carrier, the Tenth Circuit emphasized that "warrants for computer searches must affirmatively limit the search to evidence of specific federal cdmes or specific types of
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material." 563 F.3d at 1132 (citation omitted; emphasis in original). The court held that the warrant at issue lacked.sufficient particularity on the following grounds: Attachment B is quite neatly divided into two subsections: "ITEMS TO BE SEIZED" and "COMPUTER ITEMS TO BE SEIZED." Each paragraph under the first section takes pains to limit the search to evidence of specific crimes or evidence pertaining to specific persons along Ms, Otero’s delivery route. Each paragraph under the second section, in contrast, has no limiting instruction whatsoever, Read alone, they each authorize a search and seizure of "[a]ny and all" information, data, devices, programs, and other materials. There is no explidt or even implidt incorporation of the limitations of the first five paragraphs. The computer-related paragraphs do not even refer to the rest of the warrant. In fact, the presence, of limitations in each of the first five paragraphs but absence in the second four suggests that the computer searches are not subject to those limitations. Even when read in the context of the overall warrant, therefore, the paragraphs authorizing the computer search were subject to no affirmative limitations, Id. at 1 I32~33. The Otero holding indicates that explicit references to "affirmative limitations," such as a description of the specific cdmes suspected, must be made in the computer section of a,.search warrant in order to satisfy the particularity requirement, See also United States v. Adjani, 452 F.3d 1 t40, 1149 (9th Cir, 2006) (holding that the warrant at issue satisfied the particularity requirement in part because "the government here did describe at some length both the nature of and the means of committing the crime."). Although courts have emphasized the need for particularity in computer search warrants, they also recognize that the government may be unable to search for specific computer files during the execution of a warrant and may need to conduct a wholesale seizure of the computers themselves for subsequent searching. See, e.g., Guest v. Leis, 255 F.3d 325, 335 (6th Cir, 2001 ) ("Because of the technical difficulties of conducting a computer search in a suspect’s home, the seizure of the computers, . including their content, was reasonable in these cases to allow police to locate the offending files."); Upham, 168 F.3d at 535 ("it is no easy task to search a well-laden hard drive by going through all of the information it contains .., The record shows that the mechanics of the search for images later performed off site could not readily have been done on the spot."). It cannot be assumed, however, that the seizure of a computer for off-site searching is justified in every instance. Rather, to satisfy the particularity requirement, a search warrant affidavit must provide facts that support the need for an off-site search. See United States v. Hill, 459 F.3d 966, 975-76 (9th Cir, 2006) (’~Ve do not approve of issuing warrants authorizing blanket removal of all computer storage media for later examination when there is no affidavit giving a reasonable explanation ,,, as to why a wholesale seizure is necessary.").
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Consideration should also be given to the possibility of imaging a computer’s hard drive rather than seizing the computer itself, because removal of the computer may make it impossible for the target to continue conducting business. See, e.g, United States v. Raybum House Office Building, Room 2113, Washington, D.C. 20515, 497 F.3d 654, 670 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (noting that one of the ways in which FBI agents who searched a congressman’s office minimized disruption was by "imaging computer hard drives rather than searching the computers"). D. Ninth Circuit Procedural Requirements tn a recent en banc opinion involv!ng the search of a non-suspect third party’s computers, the Ninth Circuit introduced new procedural requirements for computerrelated searches. See United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, lnc., 579 F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2009). The court described these new guidelines as follows: 1. Magistrates should insist that .the government waive reliance upon the plain view doctrine in digital evidence cases .... 2. Segregation and redaction must be either done by specialized personnel or an independent third party .... 3. Warrants and subpoenas must disclose the actual risks of destruction of information as well as prior efforts to seize that information in other judicial fora .... 4. The government’s search protocol must be designed to uncover.only the information for which it has probable cause, and only that information may. be examined by the case agents .... 5. The government must destroy or, if the recipient may lawfully possess it, return non-responsive data, keeping the issuing magistrate informed about when it has done so and what it has kept. 579 F.3d at 1006. E. Privacy Statutes that May Apply to Computer Searches 1. The Stored Communications Act
In general, the Fourth Amendment does not protect communications held m electronic storage, such as email messages stored on a server,, because internet users do not have a reasonable expectation of pdvacy in such communications, Further, because the Fourth Amendment applies to government searches rather than searches by pdvate actors, it does not appear to limit the ability of internet service providers ("ISPs") to obtain customer information and disclose it to the government; To fill this
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gap, the Stored Communications Act ("SCA"), t8 U.S.C. §§ 270I-11,19 establishes certain protections for customer information inthe possession of ISPs. See 18 U.S.C. § 2703, Specifically, if the government seeks to compel disclosure of the contents of electronic communications and other information without prior notice to customers or subscribers, the SCA requires thata valid search warrant be obtained. See Guest v. Leis, 255 F.3d 325, 339 (6th Cir. 2001). 2. The Privacy Protection Act
The Fourth Amendment also does not apply to searches and seizures of documentary evidence in the possession of innocent third parties, such as the press. See Zurcher v. Stanford Dai@’, 436 U,S. 547 (1978), However, the Privacy Protection Act of 1980.("PPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000aa et seq., makes it unlawful for a government employee to search for or seize documentary materials possessed by a person with a purpose to disseminate some form of public communication. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000aa(a); (b). The PPA generally does not apply if the materials sought constitute contraband or the means of committing a criminal offense, or if there is probable cause to believe the person possessing the materials has committed a criminal offense to which the materials relate, 42 U.S.C. § 2000aa(a). As the Sixth Circuit has observed, interpretation of the PPA presents particular challenges in the context of computer searches. See Guest v. Leis, 255 F.3d 325, 34t (6th Cir. 200t), These challenges stem from the difficulty of i’separat[ing] the offending materials from other ’innocent’ material on the computer." Id. at 341-42. In Guest, the court expressed concern .that criminals might seek to insulate electronically-held criminal evidence from search and seizure by including PPA-protected materials on their computers. See id. at 342. Accordingly, the court held that "when protected materials are commingled on a criminal suspect’s computer with cdminal evidence that is unprotected by the act, we will not find liability under the PPA for seizure of the PPAprotected materials." Id. The court cautioned, however, that "police may not then ¯ search the PPA-protected materials that were seized incidentally to the criminal evidence." Id. In the case before it, the court declined to find the defendants liable under the PPA because the owner or operator of the.computers at issue was a criminal suspect, and the PPA-protected materials were not searched. Id.
~ The SCA is Title II of the Electronic Communications Pdvacy Act ("ECPA"), Pub. L. 99-508, 100 Star. 1848.
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