Opinion ID: 813297
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Following Grauer’s arrest, police conducted a warrant search of his home and seized a Hewlett Packard laptop computer from an office area in the home. A forensic computer examiner found numerous images and videos depicting suspected child pornography in user-created electronic folders. Count 4 of the superseding indictment charged him with knowing possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). At trial, Grauer stipulated that one video depicted a minor, and the government presented testimony that other images and videos depicted minors. Eight images and seven videos were submitted to the jury on Count 4, identified by the electronic file names found on Grauer’s computer. The jury unanimously found that three images and five videos were child pornography that Grauer knowingly possessed on April 9, 2010, the day of his arrest. On appeal, Grauer argues the evidence was insufficient to convict him of “knowing” possession of child pornography because the government presented no evidence as to how the images came to be on his computer or when they were accessed. “We review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence de novo, viewing evidence in the light most favorable to the government, resolving conflicts in the government’s favor, and accepting all reasonable inferences that support the verdict.” United States v. Koch, 625 F.3d 470, 478 (8th Cir. 2010) (quotations omitted). -8- Grauer’s wife testified that he operated a business from his home office, that he kept a Hewlett Packard laptop where he worked that looked like the laptop seized by police, and that no one else used his laptop regularly. This was sufficient evidence that he constructively possessed the child pornography found on his computer following his arrest. See United States v. Acosta, 619 F.3d 956, 960-61 (8th Cir. 2010), cert. denied 131 S. Ct. 1618; United States v. Kain, 589 F.3d 945, 950 (8th Cir. 2009). Evidence that multiple images of child pornography were found in electronic folders manually created by the computer’s user, as in this case, is sufficient evidence of knowing possession to support a § 2252(a)(4)(B) conviction. Koch, 625 F.3d at 478. In addition, the government presented evidence that some images found on Grauer’s computer were identical to images he had transmitted to “Jenny,” and that he told Jenny during their numerous chats that he hid images of topless girls on his hard drive so his wife would not find them. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence was more than sufficient for a reasonable jury to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Grauer knowingly possessed visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct in violation of § 2252(a)(4)(B).