Opinion ID: 215396
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence Supporting Count Five

Text: Winkler makes a series of arguments disputing the proof the government adduced showing that he downloaded the files at issue in Count Five. He relies on a Wal-mart store receipt showing that he purchased several items with his credit card at 10:52 p.m. on December 21, 2004. He argues that because the government's evidence showed the illicit files in question were downloaded at 10:53 p.m. on the same day, it would be impossible for him to be the person at the staff computer downloading the zip files at that time. Winkler also points to other evidence in support of his innocence. For example, that there had been virus problems on that computer several years ago, that he had not changed his password in twelve to fifteen years and that several cleaning crews and other individuals had access to his computer area over the years. He also argues that the government failed to show that there had been an after hours opening of his medical office on December 21, 2004 and thus the government presented no evidence that Winkler had entered his office late at night to access child pornography. Finally, Winkler argues that because he himself chose to present the staff computer for review by pre-trial forensic experts, it is not plausible that he was aware of child pornography on that computer. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, the Government produced sufficient evidence for a reasonable juror to find that Winkler knowingly downloaded the files at issue in Count Five. See United States v. Percel, 553 F.3d 903, 910 (5th Cir.2008). As to the Wal-mart receipt, the government's forensic expert, James Beard, testified that the government exhibit Winkler disputes was improperly time-stamped. Viewed properly, he testified, the download occurred at 9:53 p.m., leaving plenty of time for Winkler to complete the download and proceed to Wal-mart to purchase items at 10:53 p.m. The jury was entitled to believe Beard on this point and not Winkler. As for his other claims, Winkler presented no evidence in support of his theory that his staff computer had been improperly accessed by a virus or through some other method, or that a member of his own staff or another doctor's had broken into his computer and downloaded child pornography. Similarly, Winkler's security records argument fails because, in the absence of any opening and closing security records for December 21, 2004, there was no basis for the jury to exclude Winkler's presence. Rather, the jury was free to conclude, based on all the circumstances, that Winkler entered the office sometime on December 21 and downloaded the files in question. The jury could also have agreed with the government's argument that Winkler brought the staff computer to pre-trial services because he simply forgot it contained child pornography. At most, Winkler posited plausible alternative explanations for how the illicit pornography came to be on his computer. But a jury is not required to accept any alternative explanation. United States v. Moreno, 185 F.3d 465, 471 (5th Cir.1999) (noting that a jury is free to chose among reasonable constructions of the evidence). Rather, taking into account the overwhelming evidence the government presented of Winkler's involvement with child pornography, and that he purchased access to child pornography websites and downloaded child pornography, the evidence presented by the government was sufficient for the jury to reject the evidence presented by the defense, and to credit the prosecution's case. Winkler also argues that his conviction on Count Five should be reversed because the Government offered no evidence to show that any of the files alleged in Count Five had ever traveled on the Internet, or had otherwise moved in interstate commerce, and thus the government failed to prove the jurisdictional element of the crime. Winkler is incorrect. Evidence at trial established that the zip files housing the individual videos at issue in this count were obtained from a website. Evidence at trial further demonstrated the files at issue in Count Five were extracted from those zip files onto Winkler's hard drive, and thus that the files came to Winkler's computer from the internet. See United States v. Runyan, 290 F.3d 223, 242-43 (5th Cir.2002) (affirming a conviction where the government adduced adequate circumstantial evidence to tie particular images of child pornography to the internet). Therefore, the evidence at trial was sufficient to support Winkler's conviction on Count Five.