Opinion ID: 2747913
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Nardinger Warrant

Text: With the assistance of federal prosecutors, BLM Agent Joseph Nardinger prepared the warrant application. Where the face sheet of the warrant asked for a description of the property that the agents expected to seize, it read, “See attached sheet.” One of the attachments, Attachment B, listed a series of items to be seized,1 including the mammoth tusks, other illegal artifacts, maps of Alaska, financial records, photographs, emails, and any related information contained on computer hard drives or other electronic storage devices. A magistrate judge approved the warrant (the “Nardinger Warrant”) on July 30, 2009. The United States Attorney moved to seal the search warrant, affidavit, and accompanying papers, citing “the government’s interest in protecting cooperating witnesses, maintaining the secrecy of grand jury investigations, and ongoing criminal investigations.” (App. at 66.) The magistrate judge granted the motion. BLM agents executed the warrant on August 3, 2009. Franz was present at the time, and Nardinger provided Franz with a copy of the face sheet of the warrant. He did not, however, give him copies of the warrant attachments, even when Franz requested them. Nardinger mistakenly believed that, because the warrant and affidavit had been sealed, he could not reveal those attachments. Nardinger nonetheless explained to Franz the circumstances giving rise to the warrant, including the allegation of stealing a mammoth tusk 1 Attachment A contained a detailed description of Franz’s house. 4 from protected lands, and he thoroughly described the items the warrant authorized him to seize. During the search, agents noticed that on the walls of Franz’s house were several framed photographs of young, nude girls. And, while searching for other items listed in Attachment B, agents came across pamphlets containing several images of nude minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.2 After consulting federal prosecutors for guidance, the agents collected the contraband in plain view. One of the agents briefly examined Franz’s computer to determine whether it had too many files to search on site and whether the files were encrypted. In doing so, he noticed a file thumbnail depicting a partially nude girl and saw another file name that suggested the presence of child pornography. The agents seized, among other things, the pamphlets, the computer, and an external hard drive. They then referred the child pornography case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”).