State v. Dunlap

168 P.3d 295, 215 Or. App. 46, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1296
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 12, 2007
DocketCR030520; A127735
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 168 P.3d 295 (State v. Dunlap) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dunlap, 168 P.3d 295, 215 Or. App. 46, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1296 (Or. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

*48 ORTEGA, J.

After a trial to the court, defendant was convicted of two counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree, ORS 163.686, and was sentenced to five years’ probation. 1 He appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence discovered as the result of the warrantless seizure and search of his computer; its denial of his motion to suppress statements that he made to his probation officer and other law enforcement officers; and its denial of his motion for judgments of acquittal on the charges. We affirm.

At the time that defendant committed the crimes at issue, he was serving terms of probation imposed for a conviction in Yamhill County for invasion of personal privacy, ORS 163.700, and convictions in Washington County for invasion of personal privacy and encouraging child sexual abuse in the third degree, ORS 163.687. Defendant was under the supervision of a Yamhill County parole and probation officer, Settell. His combined conditions of probation included a “sex offender package,” which included the requirement that defendant consent to a search of his person, vehicle, and property without a warrant when the supervising officer had a reasonable ground to believe that the search would disclose evidence of a violation, and the requirement that he promptly and truthfully answer all reasonable inquiries. The sex offender package conditions also required defendant to submit to a polygraph examination every six months.

*49 In June 2003, defendant submitted to a regularly scheduled polygraph examination. When he was asked before the test if he had viewed any pornography, he answered that he had and that it consisted of pictures of men, women, and children. After defendant passed the polygraph, the polygraph examiner informed Settell that defendant had been “viewing and possibly possessing pornography on his home computer.”

At Settell’s request, defendant met Settell on June 11 at Settell’s office. The office measured 8 feet by 10 feet. Defendant was not placed in handcuffs or restrained, and Settell did not tell him that he would be taken to jail or placed in custody that day. Another officer, Pesterfield, remained standing nearby. Defendant acknowledged to Settell that, over the preceding six or seven months, he had been viewing pornography on his computer. Settell expressed a desire to know what sites defendant had viewed and wanted to search the computer. At one point, Settell and Pesterfield left the office to run a computer search, instructing defendant not to leave while they were gone. Ultimately, Settell obtained defendant’s oral consent to search his computer and his residence for pornography.

Defendant, Settell, a second parole and probation officer, and an office intern then traveled together in a county vehicle to defendant’s residence. After they arrived there, they were joined by Newberg Police Officer Kosmicki, who was in uniform with a badge and weapon. Kosmicki filled out a consent to search form, which defendant signed. Kosmicki heard Settell tell defendant that defendant did not have to consent to the search. Defendant told Kosmicki that the computer had pictures of families in the nude. Settell seized the hard drive of the computer and transferred it to Kosmicki, who transported it to the Newberg police station for forensic examination. 2 According to Settell, defendant never objected to seizure or search of the computer.

*50 After police had examined the hard drive of defendant’s computer, Newberg Police Officer McCuistion contacted Settell and informed him that it contained “hundreds” of child pornography images. Settell and McCuistion met with defendant on June 16, a few days after the initial interview and search. Settell had reviewed a list that defendant had prepared of search terms he had used and sites he had visited. Settell thought that some of the sites indicated “deviant interest,” such as sites relating to “teen sex,” “nudism youth and family,” and voyeurism.

During the June 16 meeting, Settell and McCuistion questioned defendant further about whether he had been viewing child pornography. Defendant told McCuistion that it had been “about a year” since he had looked at pornography on the computer; he denied that he had a collection of pornography. Defendant stated that the only other person who had access to his computer was his fiancee and that he was the only one who viewed pornography on it. Defendant stated that he did not use the images to masturbate but that he was attracted to them. He asserted that he destroyed the images in order to “break [the] cycle.”

At that point, McCuistion advised defendant of his Miranda rights. She then informed him that the police had found child pornography images on his computer and asked how they had gotten there. Defendant asserted that he accessed the images inadvertently while viewing adult pornography or when his computer directed him to such sites. He said that when he came across the images, he viewed them for 30 to 60 seconds and then deleted them. Defendant admitted printing some images of children as young as eight years old posed in a sexually explicit manner and admitted copying some child pornography onto a CD. According to McCuistion, defendant also admitted looking for “teen sex and maybe pre-teen sex,” looking at “family nudes,” and viewing “hundreds of images of nude girls between the age of six and fifteen years old.” Defendant indicated that he wished to stop answering questions and contact an attorney. The police ceased their questions and placed him under arrest.

Defendant was charged with nine counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree, ORS 163.684, *51 and two counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree, ORS 163.686. Each of the 11 counts was based on a particular image found on defendant’s computer. Before trial, relying on the state and federal constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures and self-incrimination, defendant moved to suppress any and all evidence obtained as the result of the seizure and search of the computer taken from his home on June 11 and evidence derived therefrom, as well as any and all statements made to probation and law enforcement officers on or after June 11 and evidence derived therefrom. 3 The trial court found that being questioned by a probation officer does not constitute a compelling circumstance and that the questioning of defendant did not involve any other compelling circumstances; it also found that defendant freely consented to the search of his computer. The trial court therefore denied the motion to suppress.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
168 P.3d 295, 215 Or. App. 46, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dunlap-orctapp-2007.