United States v. Kearn

863 F.3d 1299, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13132, 2017 WL 3092173
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 21, 2017
Docket15-3121
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 863 F.3d 1299 (United States v. Kearn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Kearn, 863 F.3d 1299, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13132, 2017 WL 3092173 (10th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge.

A jury convicted Jonathan Kearn of federal child pornography charges arising from pictures he took of his four-and-a-half year old daughter and shared on the internet. He was sentenced to a lengthy prison term followed by five years of supervised release.

Kearn contends the district court committed various errors at trial and sentencing. First, Kearn raises several evidentiary objections. He argues that the government elicited hearsay testimony when it asked a witness about the contents of an inculpato-ry report written by an expert who did not testify at trial. Even assuming this testimony was hearsay, however, we find no plain error, since admitting it did not affect the outcome of the trial. Kearn also argues that testimony identifying certain images as “child pornography” was inadmissible, because it was not helpful to the jury. The testimony was helpful, however, since whether the images depicted sexually explicit conduct was a fact in issue. The testimony also helped explain steps in the investigation. Finally, Kearn argues that evidence was improperly admitted under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), but he fails to direct us to any evidence actually admitted under that rule.

*1303 Second, Keam argues the jury should have been instructed that they had to agree unanimously on which specific images formed the basis for conviction. In his view, all of the jurors had to agree that at least one specific image violated federal law. But this misstates the case law: unanimity is only required for elements of a crime, not for means of satisfying a given element. Different images satisfying the statutory criteria are merely different means.

Third, Kearn argues that a supervised-release condition that will prohibit him from contacting his victim—his youngest daughter—was improper, because it was not “reasonably related” to the offense of conviction, and because it interfered with his right of familial association. But he has waived these arguments, which he did not make at sentencing, by failing to argue for plain error.

Finally, Kearn argues that the cumulative effect of the errors in this case mandates reversal. But we only identify one possible error here, so cumulative error analysis—which addresses whether multiple errors can prejudice a defendant—is unavailing.

We thus conclude that none of the issues Kearn raises requires reversal.

I. Background

Detective Sergeant Stuart Butler, a police investigator in Australia, operated an undercover online persona that purports to trade in child pornography in order to help catch perpetrators. In 2013, “cheyenneand liberty@yahoo.com” began an e-mail exchange with Detective Butler, during which “cheyenneandliberty” sent several images of young girls later identified as Kearn’s daughters. In most of the pictures the girls were clothed, but one of the images showed the genitals of Kearn’s youngest, four-and-a-half year old daughter. “Cheyenneandliberty” also sent Detective Butler a link to three explicit videos of young girls who were not Kearn’s daughters. In these e-mails, “cheyenneandliberty” described himself as a thirty-eight year old from Kansas, and a single father to four daughters: a four-and-a-half year old, two ten-year-old twins, and a thirteen year old. When Detective Butler asked him for a family photo, “cheyenneandliberty” sent him a photograph of Keam standing with three of his daughters.

Detective Butler looked at the data embedded in the digital images, which shows when they were taken and the device used to take them. The data showed the explicit images were taken with- an iPhone 4s shortly before “cheyenneandliberty” sent the e-mails. This fact indicated to Detective Butler that “cheyenneandliberty” was not merely sending images he found on the internet, but taking the images himself. He therefore referred the exchange to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Investigators found the IP address used to send some of the images was associated with Kearn’s Kansas home address. Kearn’s age, family situation, and location matched the description given by “cheyen-neandliberty.” Investigators executed a search warrant at Kearn’s house. Kearn’s daughters were present, and the investigating agent, Special Agent Cassidy Cas-ner, recognized the girls from the images sent to Detective Butler. Investigators seized Kearn’s iPhone 4s—the same model that had taken the photographs—and footage from his home security system.

When Agent Casner reviewed the home security footage, it corroborated the emails sent to Detective Butler and the *1304 embedded data from the images. That is, the footage confirmed that Kearn was using his phone when the e-mails were sent;. Kearn' was with his daughters when the pictures were taken; and the daughters were wearing the same-clothes shown in the pictures on the dates the pictures were taken.

A grand jury indicted Kearn with (1) permitting his minor child to engage in sexually explicit conduct in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(b); (2) distributing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2); and (3)' possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). ,.

At trial, in addition to the home security footage and the e-mail exchange with Detective Butler, the government presented the expert testimony of Special Agent Craig Beebe, who specializes in forensic examinations of electronic evidence. Agent Beebe testified that Kearn’s iPhone contained explicit images of young girls, evidence of the “cheyenneandliberty” e-mail address, and two videos of Kearn’s youngest daughter naked with Kearn’s voice in the background. Agent Beebe also found one of the images e-mailed to Detective Butler on the iPhone. On Kearn’s computer, Agent Beebe found further evidence of “cheyenneandliberty,” the website through which Detective Butler’s undercover persona was contacted, and “ProudPapa,” a nom' de plume used in the e-mails with Detective Butler,

Kearn testified at trial. He admitted he had taken the explicit photo and videos of his youngest daughter. But in his defense, he said she had reported being molested by her mother’s boyfriend and he had taken the photos and videos as evidence of the molestation. A sheriffs report indeed showed that Kearn had reported this alleged molestation to the sheriff a year before the e-mail exchange with-Butler. Kearn denied any knowledge of the “chey-enneandliberty” account or the explicit images on his phone other than the ones of his youngest daughter. Kearn operated a heating and air conditioning business from his home, and suggested a former employee with access to his iPhone could have downloaded the images and e-mailed them to Detective Butler.

Kearn also presented evidence from his own computer expert, Andreux Doty. Doty testified he found only an isolated reference to “cheyenneandliberty” in a file created from the iPhone data.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
863 F.3d 1299, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13132, 2017 WL 3092173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-kearn-ca10-2017.