Opinion ID: 172869
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Hearing on the Motion to Suppress Evidence

Text: Much of the testimony adduced from Agent Lane by the government at the suppression hearing has been recited supra in our summary of Agent Lane's affidavit supporting the application for search warrant. The government also presented the testimony of Agent Jeffrey Owen, a computer forensic expert and the officer who conducted the search of defendant's computer, after an initial search by Agent Lane. For purposes of this opinion, Sergeant Owen's testimony was significant in establishing that he used specialized software to search for files that might fit the descriptions included in Attachment B of the warrant. He explained how a program automatically finds and collects all images stored on the computer. These images have to be viewed by the examiner to determine the nature of the images. With text files, such as correspondence and other documents, Sergeant Owen testified that he used a key word search program that identified specific files as possibly within the search parameters. Most importantly, Sergeant Owen testified that use of the search software available to him made it unnecessary for him to actually open every file to determine its contents. Defendant introduced a significant amount of new evidence at the hearing by cross-examination of Agent Lane and Sergeant Owen and through his own testimony. Much of defense counsel's cross-examination of Agent Lane focused on things that she had not done in her investigation before obtaining the search warrant, the significance of which we will discuss infra. She had not obtained phone records to verify that the witness and the defendant had spoken a number of times, nor had she verified their contacts by e-mail. Agent Lane had not verified the existence of the dating service the witness said had led to her introduction to the defendant, nor did she interview anyone close to the witness. Agent Lane's affidavit, in an earlier, technical section about computers generally, stated that [a]nalysis of the IP address used by the person accessing the Internet is the reliable way to identify the user. But she did not attempt to do that with defendant's internet provider until after execution of the search warrant. She did not confirm that defendant had internet access at his home until after obtaining and executing the search warrant. Agent Lane said that she had been concerned about the fact that the witness had not reported the events for almost eleven months (or more, if Mr. Potts's testimony was accurate). The agent said that because of this concern she interviewed the witness quite diligently and asked her to explain the reason for the delay. Agent Lane interviewed the witness several times and said that the witness often cried when discussing the matter. Agent Lane verified that the witness would be willing to testify. The witness agreed to make a recorded telephone call to the defendant, which required multiple attempts before the call could be completed. Agent Lane thought this extensive cooperation by the witness reflected positively on her credibility. In his own testimony, defendant presented phone records showing that the number of contacts between him and the witness was much greater than the witness had said and that the communications had extended over a considerably longer period. Defendant testified that the only time he had been in Oklahoma had been when he met the witness, which he said had been in July 2004, more than a year before the witness had said that she had met with him. [3]