Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (March 2023)

This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during March 2023. Cases that may be of interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous Fourth Circuit case summaries can be found here. Three-month delay in obtaining search warrant for child pornography did not render information stale; video of adult daughter and testimony from daughter’s friend was not unduly prejudicial or improper character evidence U.S. v. Ebert, 61 F.4th 394 (Mar. 3, 2023). In this case from the Western District of North Carolina, the defendant’s adult daughter reported to law enforcement that her father had taken explicit photographs of her when she was a minor (five to eight years earlier). Around three months after the initial report, a SBI agent applied for and received a search warrant for the defendant’s home. The warrant authorized the seizure of electronic devices, including computers and digital storage devices. The affidavit in support of the warrant detailed the daughter’s report to law enforcement, as well as general information about common practices of people involved in possessing or creating child pornography based on the officer’s knowledge and experience. It also included details about law enforcement’s ability to retrieve deleted images from digital devices. Explicit photos and videos of the underage child were recovered from the defendant’s house. He was indicted for child pornography, sexual exploitation of a minor and a related offense. The defendant moved to suppress, arguing the information in support of the search warrant was stale. The [...]