Opinion ID: 792174
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Majority's Inferential Leaps

Text: 54 The majority reasons that, even without Agent Binney's false statements, the corrected affidavit is sufficient because it putatively establishes that (1) Martin subscribed to the E-group; (2) the overriding, if not the sole, purpose of the E-group was illegal; and (3) collectors of child pornography overwhelmingly use the internet and computers to distribute and hoard this illegal pornographic material. Op. at 74. 55 As I will discuss below, the reasoning underlying this holding is deficient because it relies on numerous unreasonable inferences to gloss over the deficiencies in the corrected affidavit. First, the corrected affidavit does not allege facts that support an inference that Martin participated in any of the E-group's legal or illegal functions. Second, the corrected affidavit does not support the conclusion that the overriding purpose of the E-group was illegal. See Op. at 74-75. Third, the corrected affidavit's allegation that Martin was an E-group subscriber indicates only Martin's propinquity to others who were committing a crime, which is not sufficient to establish probable cause. Fourth, the corrected affidavit's allegations regarding the propensities of collectors of child pornography do little to establish probable cause with respect to Martin.
56 Based on the affidavit's allegation that Martin's e-mail address was listed as a subscriber to the E-group, the majority erroneously infers that it is likely that Martin participated in those functions of the E-group that were illegal. 9 57 The text of the affidavit does not permit this inferential leap. The individualized portions of the corrected affidavit solely establish (1) that Martin's e-mail address was entered as a subscriber to the girls12-16 E-group on February 1, 2001, and (2) that Martin's e-mail remained on the subscriber list for fourteen days. The affidavit does not indicate that Martin ever searched the site's functions, received any correspondence from the E-group, or otherwise had anything to do with the E-group between February 1, 2001 and February 14, 2001. 10 E-group subscription, which requires a few simple clicks on an individual's personal computer, is simply not enough to indicate that an individual has taken an affirmative step to participate in the E-group's activities. The majority can cite no case that indicates otherwise. 11
58 The content of the corrected affidavit does not support the majority's conclusion that the overriding purpose of the E-group was dedicated to illegal activity. Op. at 74-75. There is nothing in the corrected affidavit that alleges or otherwise establishes that the E-group was wholly or mostly dedicated to the trading of illegal visual depictions. While the file posting function of the E-group was dedicated to the activity of uploading and downloading illegal visual depictions, the affidavit lists a number of other E-group functions that were purely text-based. See Perez, 247 F.Supp.2d at 483 (Subscribers could have engaged in protected, non-criminal activities, such as answering survey questions or chatting.); see also United States v. Kunen, 323 F.Supp.2d 390, 400 (E.D.N.Y.2004). 59 Although we may deeply disapprove of activities such as visiting chat rooms, taking online polls, and posting textual messages within the context of the girls12-16 E-group, these text-based activities are not illegal within the meaning of Section 2252A, the offense with which Martin is charged. Contrary to the majority's assertions, the corrected affidavit does not establish that these text-based functions were principally dedicated to the acquisition of illegal visual depictions. The girls12-16 E-group welcome message, which the majority quotes at length, is undoubtedly distasteful, but its distastefulness does not indicate that the overriding purpose of the site was illegal. In fact, the welcome message indicates that the E-group had functions that did not contain illegal visual depictions; it states, inter alia, that members could use the group to connect with others, share views and opinions . . . without censorship, tell stories, get together socially and share personal information. 60 The majority's assertion that the overriding purpose of the E-group was illegal is further challenged by the fact that the vast majority of the e-mail messages that Agent Binney received while he monitored the girls12-16 E-group contained text and did not contain illegal visual depictions. See Binney Aff. at 32. During the two-week period that Agent Binney was a member of the girls12-16 E-group he received a total of 193 e-mails (1) 14 of which contained child pornography; (2) 77 of which contained depictions of child erotica; and (3) 102 of which contained only text. Therefore, only 7.25 percent of the 193 e-mails sent to Agent Binney from the girls12-16 E-group contained illegal visual depictions. Id. In light of the fact that less than 8 percent of e-mails contained illegal visual depictions, it is purely speculative for the majority to infer that the overriding purpose of the E-group was to trade illegal visual depictions. 12 61 Not only is it legal to trade textual depictions and child erotica under the relevant statute, but this Court has also indicated that, as a general matter, possession of child erotica is not relevant to the crime of trading illegal visual depictions. See United States v. Harvey, 991 F.2d 981, 994-96 (2d Cir.1993). In Harvey, we held that evidence of simulated child pornography and child erotica 13 was admissible only because an entrapment defense was raised and because there was additional evidence of defendant's predisposition. We stated that we did not believe that possession of images of child erotica alone would demonstrate a predisposition to obtain child pornography materials illegally. Id.; see also Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540, 551, 112 S.Ct. 1535, 118 L.Ed.2d 174 (1992) (Evidence of predisposition to do what [is] lawful is not, by itself, sufficient to show predisposition to do what is . . . illegal . . . .).
62 Based on the corrected affidavit's allegations that some E-group subscribers engaged in illegal activity such as downloading illegal visual depictions, the majority infers that there is a fair probability that all subscribers, including Martin, were also engaging in illegal activity. I agree with the majority that there is no question that the affidavit establishes that some E-group subscribers used the E-group for illegal purposes. The illegal activity of some subscribers, standing alone, however, is not sufficient to establish probable cause with respect to Martin as an individual. As the Supreme Court has stated mere propinquity to others independently suspected of criminal activity does not, without more, give rise to probable cause to search that person. See Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 91, 100 S.Ct. 338, 62 L.Ed.2d 238 (1979). 14 63 The majority's focus on group probabilities runs counter to the well-settled notion that probable cause must be based on particularized facts. See Ybarra, 444 U.S. at 91, 100 S.Ct. 338 (Where the standard is probable cause, a search or seizure of a person must be supported by probable cause particularized with respect to that person.). The corrected affidavit's allegation that Martin was an E-group subscriber is simply not enough without something more that indicates that he actually participated in the illegal activities of the group. See, e.g., United States v. Brown, 951 F.2d 999, 1003 (9th Cir.1991) (ruling that individual officer's membership in corrupt police unit was not sufficient for probable cause without further proof that the officer actually participated in illegal activities); United States v. Rubio, 727 F.2d 786, 793-94 (9th Cir.1984) (declaring that membership in Hell's Angels, standing alone, is not sufficient for probable cause without particularized allegation that the individual participated in the organization's criminal activity).
64 The majority exaggerates the relevance of the corrected affidavit's descriptions of child pornography collectors (hereafter referred to as collectors of illegal visual depictions) by improperly inferring that all subscribers to the E-group are collectors of illegal visual depictions. 15 This erroneous inference allows the majority to attribute the characteristics of these collectors-including the possession of illegal visual depictions-to all subscribers of the E-group (and therefore Martin). The affidavit does not support this inference. At no point does the affidavit describe the universe of subscribers to the E-groups, let alone allege that the E-groups' memberships are entirely composed of collectors of illegal visual depictions. It is an inferential fallacy of ancient standing to conclude that, because members of group A (collectors of illegal visual depictions) are likely to be members of group B (subscribers to specified E-groups) then group B is entirely, or even largely composed of, members of group A. 65 Such reasoning would lead us to conclude that if collectors of illegal visual depictions tend to be men, then men are likely to be collectors of illegal visual depictions. The majority justifies this inference by stating that it is common sense that any person who subscribes to one of these E-groups would more than likely download and possess illegal visual depictions. Op. at 75. The majority's conclusion that E-group subscribers are likely to be collectors of illegal visual depictions is common sense only if one studiously ignores the affidavit's extensive description of the text-based functions of the E-group. Gates, 462 U.S. at 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317 (indicating that common sense determinations must be based on the content set forth in the affidavit).