Opinion ID: 2978061
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard of review and probable cause standard

Text: In an appeal following the denial of a motion to suppress evidence, we review the district court’s factual findings for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo. See United States v. Terry, 522 F.3d 645, 647 (6th Cir. 2008). “[W]hen judging the sufficiency of an affidavit to establish probable cause in support of a search warrant, the Supreme Court has ‘repeatedly said that after-the-fact scrutiny . . . should not take the form of de novo review . . . . Rather, reviewing courts are to accord the magistrate’s determination ‘great deference.’’” Id. (quoting United States v. Allen, 211 F.3d 970, 973 (6th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (quoting Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 236 (1983))). “‘[S]o long as the magistrate had a ‘substantial basis for . . . concluding’ that a search would uncover evidence of wrongdoing, the Fourth Amendment requires no more.’” Allen, 211 F.3d at 973 (quoting Gates, 462 U.S. at 236 (quoting Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 271 (1960))). No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 6 “In deciding whether to issue a search warrant, the Fourth Amendment requires ‘the issuing magistrate . . . simply to make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him . . . there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.’” Terry, 522 F.3d at 648 (quoting Gates, 462 U.S. at 238). “[P]robable cause requires only a probability or substantial chance of criminal activity, not an actual showing of such activity.” Gates, 462 U.S. at 243 n.13. 2. The affidavit provided probable cause to believe that Lapsins possessed pornographic images of real children, rather than solely computergenerated images Lapsins argues that there was insufficient evidence that the images referenced in the affidavit were images of actual children as opposed to computer-generated images, which are not unlawful to possess. See Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234, 256 (2002) (holding that Congress’s ban on possession of virtual child pornography violated the First Amendment because, among other reasons, its creation does not involve actual children). This argument fails because the affidavit contained several assertions that, considered together and under the totality of the circumstances, provided probable cause to believe that the pornographic images at issue included images of real children. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 238 (holding that a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis applies to probable-cause determinations). The affidavit stated that the child in the image emailed by Lapsins was a known victim who, according to the NCMEC, was identifiable by Yves Goethals, a Belgian police officer. While Lapsins is correct that the affidavit provided no additional information about Goethals’s reliability, in general, “another law enforcement officer is a reliable source and . . . consequently no special showing of reliability need be made as a part of the probable cause determination.” 2 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 3.5(a) (4th ed. 2008). On the other hand, Klain learned of this information indirectly through an NCMEC report, and “long chains of information passed through police channels” are deemed less reliable, particularly when the affidavit does not set forth the factual basis for an officer’s statement. Id. We need not arrive at an exact measure of No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 7 Goethals’s reliability—the fact that a law enforcement officer claimed to have identified the child in the photograph, when combined with the other information presented in the affidavit, provided sufficient probable cause to believe that Lapsins possessed images of real children. The affidavit also stated that the “NCMEC analyzed the image [emailed to the Greensburg Suspect] and concluded that [it depicted] a known victim.” (ROA 76.) While the NCMEC’s conclusion as to the identifiability of the victim was based on information provided by Goethals, the affidavit also stated that the NCMEC, which has expertise in child pornography, “analyzed” the image and informed Patrolman Jones that it was a photograph of an identified victim, i.e., a real child. The magistrate judge could reasonably have assumed that the NCMEC would not have made such an assertion if the image had appeared to be a virtual, computer-generated image. In addition, the affidavit shows that Patrolman Jones viewed the image emailed to the Greensburg Suspect, and although the affidavit does not contain a statement by Jones that he believed the photograph to depict a real child, the affidavit as a whole implies such a belief. According to the affidavit, “Patrolman Jones’s forensics show that the image sent in the body of the email . . . depict[ed] a baby girl with an erect adult penis in the foreground and ejaculate covering the exposed vaginal area of the baby girl.” (ROA 75.) Jones, who was trained in computer forensics and the investigation of child pornography, provided Agent Klain with the NCMEC’s conclusion that the image depicted a known child-victim. The overall implication is that Jones did not believe that the image was computer-generated (such that it could not possibly depict a real child), and this contributed to the reasonableness of the magistrate’s common-sense conclusion that the image Lapsins sent likely depicted a real child. In addition to information suggesting that the image emailed to the Greensburg Suspect was a photograph of a real child, the warrant relied on a report by Yahoo! to the NCMEC stating that Lapsins uploaded 132 images of child pornography to the budmanoh69 site on a specified date. While the affidavit did not contain descriptions of the images, nor an assertion that any of the photographs depicted real children rather No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 8 than computer-generated images, at the probable-cause stage of the analysis, the magistrate judge would have been justified in finding that Lapsins’s possession of such a large quantity of purported child pornography contributed to the “fair probability” that some of the images Lapsins possessed were of real children, though we express no opinion about whether such a report, on its own, would support a finding of probable cause. Although we find that the affidavit was sufficient on this point in the present case, the better practice would be to include a plain statement of the affiant’s belief that the image depicted a real child, together with a recitation of the facts that support such belief. Neither at the suppression hearing nor on appeal has Lapsins pointed to any information that would have suggested to the investigating officers or the magistrate that the images were not of real children. Although the burden of demonstrating probable cause rests with the Government, we have held that “[s]ince a probable cause finding does not require a preponderance of the evidence, in order to undermine the magistrate’s finding, the likelihood of an innocent explanation must (at the very least) be greater than the likelihood of a guilty one.” Terry, 522 F.3d at 650 (holding that the possibility that a pornographic image emailed by defendant was an innocent reply to a spam message to which the image had been attached by the original sender did not negate finding of probable cause). Nothing in Lapsins’s chat with the Greensburg Suspect, for example, provided any reason to believe that Lapsins was referring something other than a photograph of a child when he offered to send a “hot xxx baby pic[]” shortly after describing his urge to molest real children. As required at the probable-cause stage, the warrant in this case was supported by “a probability or substantial chance of” possession of images of actual children; “an actual showing” that the images depicted real children was not required, see Gates, 462 U.S. at 243 n.13, even though such a showing was arguably made through the information provided by Goethals. See also United States v. Wagers, 452 F.3d 534, 53839 (6th Cir. 2006) (holding that defendant’s subscriptions to websites containing child pornography but also possibly containing adult pornographic images provided probable No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 9 cause for a search warrant even though the supporting affidavits did not specifically allege that the defendant had viewed the child pornography on the sites). In this case, the magistrate judge permissibly found a “fair probability” that some of the images in Lapsins’s possession were images of real children. 3. The affidavit set forth a sufficient nexus between the suspected illegal activity and Lapsins’s home Lapsins argues that even if the affidavit established probable cause to believe that he had transmitted images of child pornography over the internet, it did not provide probable cause that such images would be found in his home. While Lapsins is correct that the mere fact that a person is suspected of a crime does not justify the conclusion that fruits of that crime will be found at his residence, see United States v. McPhearson, 469 F.3d 518, 524-25 (6th Cir. 2006) (holding that suspect’s possession of drugs on his person did not provide probable cause to search his home), in this case, the affidavit included information providing a sufficient nexus to Lapsins’s home. As an initial matter, Lapsins does not dispute that ample evidence connected him to the budmanoh69 Yahoo! and AOL screen-names and email address, and established that he lived at the Kingfisher Lane address. Despite Lapsins’s arguments to the contrary, the affidavit also set forth evidence giving rise to a fair probability that images of child pornography transmitted by budmanoh69 would be found in Lapsins’s home, particularly on a home computer. The pictures uploaded by budmanoh69 to the budmanoh69 Yahoo! group on November 14, 2005 originated from an IP address associated with a residential cable modem in the Cincinnati area. See Terry, 522 F.3d at 648 (concluding that where suspect was registered user of AOL account from which image was sent at 2:30 a.m. and was known to have a home computer through which he accessed that account, it “requires no great leap of logic” to conclude that his home computer was probably used to send the image). Lapsins’s chat with the Greensburg Suspect took place between the hours of 6:30 and 8:30 in the morning—a time when Lapsins likely would have been using a home computer. See id. at 649 n.1. Furthermore, his upload of 132 images to the budmanoh69 Yahoo! site was traced to a residential cable modem server in the Cincinnati area. In addition, this particular No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 10 “criminal activity (viewing child pornography) is much more tied to a place of privacy, seclusion, and high-speed Internet connectivity (e.g. a home or office) than the storing of drugs.” Wagers, 452 F.3d at 540; see also Terry, 522 F.3d at 648 (“[T]he district court did not err in concluding that as a matter of plain common sense, if . . . a pornographic image has originated or emanated from a particular individual’s email account, it logically follows that the image is likely to be found on that individual’s computer or on storage media associated with the computer.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Although the affidavit did not allege that the IP address from which budmanoh69 uploaded child pornography was registered to Lapsins by name, cf. Wagers, 452 F.3d at 539 (IP address specifically assigned to defendant was used to purchase website subscriptions), we stated in Terry that “the Wagers opinion did not hold that IP information was an indispensable prerequisite to obtaining a search warrant . . . , only that such information contributed to the totality of the probable cause determination.” Terry, 522 F.3d at 649. In this case, as in Terry, there was also evidence that the defendant had actually possessed child pornography (since he had emailed an image), as opposed to merely having had access to it, as in Wagers. The Terry court found that “use of Terry’s personal e-mail account in the wee hours of the morning [to send child pornography], combined with information that Terry used his home computer to access that account, established at least a ‘fair probability’ that the computer used to send the messages was, in fact, the one in Terry’s home.” Id. Here, there was no direct evidence that Lapsins used a home computer to access his AOL or Yahoo! accounts, but the fact that images were uploaded by budmanoh69 from a residential cable modem in the city where Lapsins lived, combined with the early morning chat, allowed the magistrate judge to make that inference. Lapsins claims that the report from the NCMEC that he had uploaded 132 images on a certain date is unreliable because the NCMEC relies on information from “various sources [] includ[ing] individuals and members of the Internet services industry,” and “neither investigates nor vouches for the accuracy of the information reported to itself.” (ROA 60.) According to the affidavit, the NCMEC informed Patrolman Jones of “past No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 11 reports by Yahoo! of budmanoh69 uploading child pornography to Yahoo! groups.” (ROA 77.) Jones provided Klain with these reports, one of which contained the precise date, time, and originating IP address of the upload of 132 images, as well as the screenname of the uploader: budmanoh69. Even if the report was unreliable in isolation, it was corroborated by the fact that the upload came from a residential cable modem in the Cincinnati area and that the Yahoo! user budmanoh69 was independently known to be a transmitter of child pornography (by virtue of the email to the Greensburg Suspect). For the foregoing reasons, the warrant was supported by probable cause to believe that child pornography would be found at Lapsins’s home. 4. The information supporting the warrant was not stale The email from Lapsins to the Greensburg Suspect was sent on March 27, 2005, but the warrant application was not submitted until December 19, 2005—nearly nine months later. However, the warrant was also supported by the NCMEC report that budmanoh69 had uploaded 132 images of child pornography on November 14, 2005—only about one month before the warrant was executed. Since this information was reliable enough to contribute to a finding of probable cause, it remedied any potential staleness defect. See, e.g., United States v. Prideaux-Wentz, 543 F.3d 954, 958 (7th Cir. 2008) (recognizing that, in child pornography context, “more recent evidence of continuing criminal activity [can] bolster probable cause and freshen the older information”); see also Terry, 522 F.3d at 650 n.2 (noting that pornographic images can often be recovered from computers by forensic examiners such that the passage of time does not greatly affect the probable cause calculus). B. Sentencing Guidelines reduction for acceptance of responsibility Lapsins argues that he was entitled to a three-point reduction in his base offense level for acceptance of responsibility, instead of the two-point reduction he received. For the following reasons, the prosecution was not required to move for the additional one-point reduction. No. 07-4387 United States v. Lapsins Page 12 1. The Guideline provision Section 3E1.1 of the Guidelines provides for a potential reduction of three points for acceptance of responsibility. Section 3E1.1(a) allows the district court to reduce the offense level by two points if “the defendant clearly demonstrates acceptance of responsibility for his offense.” U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a). Section 3E1.1(b), on the other hand, allows for a reduction of one additional point upon motion of the government stating that the defendant has assisted authorities in the investigation or prosecution of his own misconduct by timely notifying authorities of his intention to enter a plea of guilty, thereby permitting the government to avoid preparing for trial and permitting the government and the court to allocate their resources efficiently. U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b). This additional one-point reduction is not available absent a motion from the government. United States v. Smith, 429 F.3d 620, 628 (6th Cir. 2005).