Opinion ID: 150396
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony at the Sentencing Hearing

Text: On July 25, 2008, the district judge held a sentencing hearing, where he heard testimony from Special Agent Magin Sacasas (“Agent Sacasas”); Phillips; and Janise Madison-Hill (“MadisonHill”), a psychotherapist.
Agent Sacasas testified that he and Special Agent Ron Crawford (“Agent Crawford”) had interviewed Phillips on the day the warrant was executed. Agent Sacasas testified that he had asked Phillips if he “use[d] any [online] method for trading child pornography, [such as] e-mail, F-serve, Kazaa, Limewire or other [p]eer-to-[p]eer programs.” According to Agent Sacasas, Phillips denied using peer-to-peer programs, but acknowledged using Yahoo Groups and/or Yahoo Messenger “to trade to get some of [the] images” and “upload[ing]” child pornography to others via Yahoo Groups. -3- Nos. 08-6099, 08-6271 United States v. Phillips Agent Sacasas testified that there was “[no] doubt in [his own] mind that [he was] asking questions and [Phillips] was answering questions about child pornography,” as opposed to adult pornography. (emphasis added). Agent Sacasas testified that, while the interview was not recorded and there were no other witnesses, both he and Agent Crawford had taken contemporaneous notes of Phillips’s responses to the questioning. Both sets of notes take the form of a series of prepared typewritten questions with handwritten answers. Question #25 states, “Do you use any . . . methods of trading child pornography, for example: email, F-serve, Kazaa, Limewire, or other Peer to Peer (P2P) programs?” Agent Sacasas’s notes immediately following that question read, “12 to 15, nude or seminude, used Yahoo Messenger.” Agent Crawford’s notes immediately following that same question state, “Traded pictures of 12 to 15-year-old images [sic] in chat rooms.” Question #30 states, “Have you ever uploaded images depicting child pornography to the [I]nternet?” Immediately following that question, Agent Crawford’s notes state, “Has posted some pics.”
Phillips admitted “receiving child pornography via the [I]nternet on [his] computer,” but stated that he “had never uploaded and never traded” child pornography. When asked why the agents were under the impression that he had done so, he testified: A. [The agents] asked me if I had ever posted pictures using the IM messaging, instant messaging. I said yes and – of like over 18 posing as like teenage school girls and stuff. And I told them that on two or three different occasions . . . . Q. But those were adult? A. Yes. -4- Nos. 08-6099, 08-6271 United States v. Phillips Q. Over 18? A. Right, from websites that dressed like school girls and et cetera.