United States v. Kennedy

81 F. Supp. 2d 1103, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3558, 2000 WL 49055
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJanuary 3, 2000
Docket99-10105-01
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 81 F. Supp. 2d 1103 (United States v. Kennedy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Kennedy, 81 F. Supp. 2d 1103, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3558, 2000 WL 49055 (D. Kan. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BELOT, District Judge.

On August 25, 1999, Defendant Michael R. Kennedy was indicted for the intentional receipt of child pornography in violation *1106 of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) (Doc. 1) and forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. § 2253. Before the court for its consideration are:

1. Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence (Doc. 13);
2. Defendant’s memorandum in support of his motion to suppress (Doc. 14) 1 ;
3. The government’s response (Doc. 20);
4. The government’s memorandum in support of its response (Doc. 21); and
5. Defendant’s reply (Doc. 22),

An evidentiary hearing was held December 2, 1999. For the following reasons, defendant’s motion to suppress is denied.

FACTS

On July 2, 1999, Steven Idelman was working as a customer support specialist for Road Runner, a high speed Internet service provider. 2 At approximately 9:00 p.m., Idelman received an anonymous phone call from a still-unidentified male (“the caller”). The caller told Idelman that he was at a friend’s house, scanning other computers through the Internet and had viewed images of child pornography on a computer the caller believed to be serviced by Road Runner. The caller told Idelman the IP address of the computer from which the images were viewed, 24.94.200.54, 3 and the directory and file names in which the images were located. 4 The caller did not say that he was a law enforcement officer or that he was directed to view the computer’s files by any law enforcement officer. The caller did not ask Idelman to call the police.

Shortly after the anonymous call, Idel-man went to a computer and accessed the IP address given to him by the caller. His purpose was to determine if what the caller told him was correct. He located the computer with the IP address 24.94.200.54 and the directory tree and files mentioned by the caller. Idelman viewed two images located within those files. One of the images depicted two boys, whom Idelman estimated to be approximately eight or nine years old, posed in a sexual nature. 5 Idelman then sent an e-mail to his supervisor, Anna Madden, describing the anonymous phone call and the results of his search of the computer with IP address 24.94.200.54.

On July 6, 1999, Kerry Jones, a network engineer for Road Runner, received an email from Anna Madden asking him to research the owner of the Road Runner account connecting to the computer with the IP address 24.94.200.54. Jones was able to determine that the account was *1107 assigned to Rosemary D. Kennedy. 6 Mr. Jones was able to determine that the account was assigned to the same IP address on July 2, 1999. Believing that the customer service agreement between Road Runner and the account holder authorized him to search a computer’s files for offensive material, Jones then viewed the files on the computer’s hard drive. 7 The files depicted images of boys, whom Jones estimated to be approximately 10 to 13 years old, engaged in sexual activity. Jones then printed out an image of the computer’s directory tree in which the files with offensive material were located.

That same day, after consulting with Road Runner’s corporate attorney, Scott Petrie, the manager of Road Runner, made the decision to contact law enforcement authorities. Kerry Jones contacted the Exploited Children’s Unit of the Wichita Police Department, but his phone call was not returned. Road Runner then contacted Special Agent Leslie Earl of the FBI. Special Agent Earl was informed by Road Runner that the FBI would need to obtain a court order for it to be able to supply the FBI with any subscriber information.

The United States Attorney’s Office then applied to a United States magistrate judge for an order directing Road Runner to disclose subscriber information related to IP address 24.94.200.54. In the application, the Assistant United States Attorney stated that:

the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation in connection with possible violation(s) of Tile 18, United States Code, Sections 2252 and 2252A; it is believed that the subject of the investigation used Road Runner’s IP address' 24.94.200.54 on July 2, 1999, at 11:48 p.m. in furtherance of the subject offenses; and that the information sought to be obtained is relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry in that it is believed that this information will assist in the investigation relating to the aforementioned offenses.

The magistrate judge issued an order, which was presented to Road Runner personnel, who provided the FBI with the following information:

The subscriber whose computer used I.P. address 24.94.200.54 on July 2,1999, at 11:49 p.m. was Rosemay (sic) D. Kennedy of 9120 Harvest Court, Wichita, Kansas, telephone 316-722-6593. Two users were listed for that account: RKENNEDY@KSCable.COM and KENNEDYM@KSCable.Com. The account had been active since June 7,1999.

Special Agent Earl next went to the house located at 9120 Harvest Court in Wichita, Kansas. He observed a Chrysler Sebring parked in the driveway. A records check with the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles revealed that the car was registered to Michael R. Kennedy. Special Agent Earl then called the phone number given to the government by Road Runner. A person identifying himself as Michael Kennedy answered the phone.

In initiating the phone call, Special Agent Earl asked Kennedy if he was satisfied with his Road Runner cable modem Internet service.

Kennedy confirmed that his address was 9120 Harvest Court, Wichita, Kansas, and he confirmed that he was the primary user of the Road Runner cable modem Internet service. Kennedy said he was satisfied with the service and especially liked the speed and quality of the e-mail service. Kennedy estimated he spent an average of two to three hours per night online. Kennedy noted that he always left his system on and connected to the Internet. Kennedy said he used his Internet access only for *1108 pleasure and his computer and modem were located in his home.
Kennedy said his computer system was a Gateway 450 megahertz Pentium II with a 17 gigabyte hard drive. When asked if he had any concerns about the Road Runner service Kennedy said he thought the company should warn customers about the possibility of someone else trying to enter their computers through the Internet. Kennedy said he held Internet accounts through Netcom and AOL in the past.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 F. Supp. 2d 1103, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3558, 2000 WL 49055, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-kennedy-ksd-2000.