Opinion ID: 2443531
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Evidence Inevitably Would Have Been Discovered by Lawful Means

Text: [¶ 41] We need not speculate as to whether the police would have ultimately sought and obtained a search warrant because the police sought a search warrant within days of coming into possession of the computer. Even though they mistakenly believed Nadeau had consented to the seizure of his computer, they viewed a warrant as a necessary predicate to the forensic examination of the computer in recognition that a person's consent can be withdrawn. Moreover, the affidavit in support of the warrant application described with particularity the evidence on the computer that was sought. See State v. Allard, 674 A.2d 921, 923 (Me.1996) (stating that general warrants are constitutionally prohibited because the Constitutions of the United States and Maine require that a search warrant describe with particularity the place or person subject to the search (quotation marks omitted)). The particularity of the warrant application served to protect Nadeau's legitimate privacy interests in the lawful electronic information also stored in the computer. [8] [¶ 42] The fact that Chief Blais's search warrant affidavit contained information derived from the illegal seizure and preview search of the computer does not preclude the application of the inevitable discovery exception under these circumstances. Evidence seized during the execution of a search warrant, which is based on information acquired by unconstitutional means, need not be excluded if (1) the information that was illegally obtained and used to support the issuance of a warrant is excised from the affidavit, and (2) we determine that the judge or magistrate would have had probable cause to issue the warrant relying solely on the remaining information. Rabon, 2007 ME 113, ¶ 17, 930 A.2d at 275 (quotation marks omitted). Here, although Chief Blais's warrant affidavit contains information from the unconstitutional preview search on December 7, 2007, once excised, the redacted affidavit contains sufficient probable cause for the issuance of the warrant. [¶ 43] In this case, there is little room for doubt that if the officers had only secured Nadeau's dorm room with the computer inside and sought a search warrantas should have happenedthey would have successfully obtained the warrant. That warrant would have led to the inevitable discovery of the child pornography on Nadeau's computer.