Opinion ID: 3052223
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whoever—

Text: ... (7) knowingly and with intent to defraud uses, produces, traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses a telecommunications instrument that has been modified or altered to obtain unauthorized use of telecommunications services; ... (9) knowingly uses, produces, traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses hardware or software, knowing it has been configured to insert or modify telecommunication identifying information associated with or contained in a telecommunications instrument so that such instrument may be used to obtain telecommunications service without authorization; ... shall, if the offense affects interstate or foreign commerce, be punished as provided in subsection (c) of this section. 7814 UNITED STATES v. HARRELL Harrell then filed the instant motion pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g), seeking return of the property seized from his residence.2 Harrell’s motion included as exhibits the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Department Evidence Report and all of Clifford’s reports. In his motion, Harrell states that he does not seek the return of any property modified to permit the owner to illegally view encrypted television signals, nor does he seek the return of any discs with downloaded instructions explaining how to modify equipment to permit the illegal viewing of encrypted television signals. In response, the government filed two declarations from Donald Toy (Toy), Clifford’s supervisor and the manager of the Signal Integrity Division, which inspected and analyzed the seized property. The government supported its response with Toy’s declarations because at the time Harrell filed his Rule 41(g) motion, Clifford was no longer employed by DISH Network. Toy concluded that the DISH Network receivers and smartcards in Harrell’s possession were “modified to receive unauthorized programming,” and that Harrell also possessed pirating hardware and software. The parties stipulated to submit Harrell’s motion on the papers, and Harrell waived any objection to the government’s reliance on Toy’s declarations. After noting that the “parties agree that certain property should be returned to [Harrell],” the court specifically discussed the receivers contested by the parties. The court stated: 2 Rule 41 states, in pertinent part: (g) Motion to Return Property. A person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure of property or by the deprivation of property may move for the property’s return. The motion must be filed in the district where the property was seized. The court must receive evidence on any factual issue necessary to decide the motion. If it grants the motion, the court must return the property to the movant, but may impose reasonable conditions to protect access to the property and its use in later proceedings. UNITED STATES v. HARRELL 7815 Mr. Toy based his opinion on the fact that the box- keys of the receivers were written on the bottom of the units, there was [sic] scratches and marks on the J-TAG ports of the receivers, and “information from the nonvolatile memories indicate that [the] receivers have been receiving authorized programming.” . . . Given that [Harrell] does not object to Mr. Toy’s declaration, the court accepts Mr. Toy’s conclusion that the receivers have been illegally modified and are capable of receiving unauthorized programing. No. CR. S-05-475 LKK, 2007 WL 1279505, at  2 (E.D. Cal. May 1, 2007) (second alteration in original). Therefore, the court concluded, the contested receivers constitute contraband per se under section 1029(a)(7). The court then discussed the miscellaneous seized items. Other than certain cables and adaptors, which the government agrees to return, the court again accepted Toy’s conclusions as fact, construed items 020SW and 021SW as capable of pirating and/or having been illegally altered, and found that they should not be returned to Harrell. In sum, the court ordered: [Harrell’s] Motion for Return of Property is granted in part and denied in part. The government shall return to [Harrell] the following items: blue cards (item # 032SW), hard drives (item # s 002CS & 003CS), remote control (item # 10SW), unmodified receivers (item # s 013SW, 014SW, 025SW- 031SW), paperwork (item # 018SW)[,] computer (item # 034SW), and various cables and adaptors associated with items # 020SW and # 022SW. The government shall retain the remainder of the property in question. Id. at . This appeal followed.