United States v. Martin

180 F. Supp. 3d 373, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51620, 2016 WL 1559140
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedApril 18, 2016
DocketNO. 5:15-CR-86-FL
StatusPublished

This text of 180 F. Supp. 3d 373 (United States v. Martin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Martin, 180 F. Supp. 3d 373, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51620, 2016 WL 1559140 (E.D.N.C. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

LOUISE W. FLANAGAN, United States District Judge

This matter is before the court on defendant’s motion to suppress certain evidence allegedly obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (DE 38). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 59(b), United States Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers II entered a memorandum and recommendation (“M&R”), wherein it is recommended that defendant’s motion be denied. (DE 44). Defendant timely objected to the magistrate’s recommendation and the government’s time for response has passed. For the reasons given more specifically below, the- court adopts the recommendation of the magistrate judge, albeit on different grounds, and denies defendant’s motion.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On March 18, 2015, a grand jury returned a two count indictment charging defendant with receipt of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2); and possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).

Defendant filed the instant motion to suppress on December 16, 2015. Therein, defendant raises three arguments. Defendant first argues that he was the subject of an unconstitutional search, and that all the evidence subsequently obtained, including evidence obtained by warrantless seizure and statements made by defendant, is fruit of the poisonous tree. In the alternative, defendant argues ..certain physical evidence should.be suppressed where that evidence was obtained from his laptop computer, cell phone, and USB thumb drive, all of which allegedly were illegally seized without a, warrant and without exigent circumstances to support a warrantless seizure. Finally, defendant argues that certain incriminating statements made after that warrantless seizure also should be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree, where the seizure unlawfully extended defendant’s detention.

The court referred defendant’s motion for M&R on December 18, 2015. The magistrate judge held an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s motion on January 20, 2016. M&R entered on February 3, 2016. Therein, the magistrate recommends that the court deny defendant’s motion to suppress. The magistrate judge bases his recommen[376]*376dation on two, independent grounds. First, the M&R recommends denying defendant’s motion as untimely, where it was filed some two weeks after the Rule 12(c) period set by the court and without good cause. Second, the M&R recommends denying defendant’s motion on the merits. Defendant’s timely objections followed on February 17, 2016.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The facts, preceding defendant’s indictment may be summarized as follows. Defendant is a convicted sex offender who, on February 21, 2014, was released from the State of North Carolina’s custody subject to the following pertinent restriction: “submit at reasonable times to searches of [his] person, ■ premises, or any vehicle under [his] control by [his] supervising [probation] officer for purposes reasonably related to [his] supervision.” (DE 38-2).

On May 21, 2014, Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) a probable ■ violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252. In particular, Microsoft reported that an account registered with its cloud storage service, OneDrive, had been used to upload at least four potentially pornographic images depicting minors. (DE 38-3). Microsoft provided NCMEC with the email address tied to the One-Drive account in question, howlingwolf. martin7072@gmail.com; the name in which the account was registered, Jeremy Martin; the internet protocol address of the device used to transmit the images; and copies of the images themselves.

On May 22, 2014, the NCMEC reported to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (“SBI”) the probable criminal conduct. Using the information supplied by Microsoft in conjunction with internet and : law enforcement database searches, the SBI and the Raleigh Police Department (“RPD”) positively identified “Jeremy Martin,” the owner of the One-Drive account, as defendant. RPD Detective Ouellette (“Ouellette”) identified defendant as a sex offender registered in North Carolina, and identified his address as the South Wilmington Street Center, a shelter for homeless men in Raleigh.

On May 30, 2014, Ouellette prepared and obtained a search warrant for the OneDrive account in question. That search warrant was served on Microsoft the same day, and Microsoft provided RPD with the results of that search warrant on July 11, 2014. Those results included the four allegedly pornographic images originally reported to NCMEC, as well as images that Ouellette believed to be of defendant. In addition, the results of the search warrant informed Ouellette that the images had been uploaded using a computer running Microsoft’s “Windows” operating system.

When Ouellette arrived at work on the morning of July 25, 2014, he opened an email, dated July 24, 2014, from another RPD officer that piqued his interest in finding defendant. The email informed Ouellette of a police report from July 24, 2014, which connected defendant to a laptop computer and child pornography. In particular, on the evening of July 24, defendant had become upset because another resident of the South Wilmington Street Center, who also was a convicted sex offender, had unauthorizedly used defendant’s laptop. The incident had drawn the attention of law enforcement and, at the time, defendant reported to the investigating RPD officer that he was afraid the unauthorized user would use his computer to look at child pornography. After reviewing the report, Ouellette became convinced that if he did not find defendant soon, that defendant would overwrite the files on, or outright destroy, his computer as a result of the July 24 incident.

[377]*377That same morning, shortly after reading the email, Ouellette contacted defendant’s probation officers (“Murphy” and “Morris”). Murphy and Morris confirmed defendant’s living arrangement at the South Wilmington Street Center and agreed to meet Ouellette there. However, after arriving, Ouellette, Murphy, and Morris learned that defendant had departed the South Wilmington Street Center for the day.1

Ouellette, Murphy, and Morris searched for defendant in downtown Raleigh. Eventually, with the help of additional RPD officers, Ouellette, Murphy, and Morris located defendant at a soup kitchen in Raleigh. Murphy and Morris reminded defendant that he was required to submit to warrantless searches as a condition of his pretrial release and subsequently searched defendant. Murphy and Morris discovered the thumb drive on defendant and turned that item over to Ouellette. Meanwhile, Ouellette observed defendant’s laptop lying on the ground and seized it. During Murphy and Morris’s search of defendant’s person, the RPD officer that previously had found defendant at the soup kitchen located defendant’s cell phone inside and brought it out to Ouellette.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Katz v. United States
389 U.S. 347 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Coolidge v. New Hampshire
403 U.S. 443 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Mincey v. Arizona
437 U.S. 385 (Supreme Court, 1978)
United States v. Place
462 U.S. 696 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Kentucky v. King
131 S. Ct. 1849 (Supreme Court, 2011)
United States v. George L. Bradley
571 F.2d 787 (Fourth Circuit, 1978)
David E. Camby v. Larry Davis James M. Lester
718 F.2d 198 (Fourth Circuit, 1983)
United States v. Leonardo Chavez
902 F.2d 259 (Fourth Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Orville Reed, A/K/A Sonny Reed
935 F.2d 641 (Fourth Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Nicholas Omar Midgette
478 F.3d 616 (Fourth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Daniel Brown
701 F.3d 120 (Fourth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Joseph Yengel, Jr.
711 F.3d 392 (Fourth Circuit, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
180 F. Supp. 3d 373, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51620, 2016 WL 1559140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-martin-nced-2016.