United States v. Morgan Chase Woods

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in United States v. Morgan Chase Woods. Read the opinion of the Court — 684 F.3d 1045
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided June 18, 2012·No. 11-11665·Published

Opinion

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED ________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT JUNE 18, 2012 No. 11-11665 ________________________ JOHN LEY CLERK

D.C. Docket No. 1:09-cr-00127-JRH-WLB-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

MORGAN CHASE WOODS,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia ________________________

(June 18, 2012)

Before TJOFLAT, HULL and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: Defendant Morgan Chase Woods appeals his convictions on one count of

receipt of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2), and two

counts of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

§ 2252A(a)(5)(B). After review and oral argument, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Morgan Chase Woods was a Navy serviceman working as an

Arabic linguist and stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. In early 2008, his ex-wife

discovered child pornography on a Hewlett-Packard (“H-P”) computer that had

belonged to Woods before she took the computer and moved out of their home. In

February 2008, Woods’s ex-wife turned the H-P computer over to the Naval

Criminal Investigative Service (“NCIS”). Forensic investigators discovered

images of known child pornography on the computer.

A. May 12, 2009 Interview

On May 12, 2009, NCIS Special Agent Mary Beth Eversman, FBI Agent

Brian Ozden and National Security Agency Special Agent Steve Cutcliff

interviewed Woods. The interview took place at Woods’s Fort Gordon workplace

during his working hours. It began when Woods’s chief escorted him to a private

office where the agents had gathered. After Woods’s chief left, the agents

displayed their credentials and told Woods that they wanted to speak to him

2 because his email address had been associated with a child pornography website.1

The agents did not intend to take Woods into custody at this time; the agents did

not handcuff Woods, and they did not tell Woods that he was under arrest. The

agents were not armed. Agent Eversman later testified that Woods was free to

leave or to refuse to speak to them. Woods gave no indication that he did not want

to speak with the agents.

Before questioning Woods, the agents gave Woods a form entitled “Military

Suspect’s Acknowledgment and Waiver of Rights.” Agent Eversman later

testified that pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military must

provide this waiver form to every military suspect in advance of interviewing the

suspect about allegations against him, even if the suspect is not in custody. The

waiver form, which Agent Eversman read aloud to Woods, stated:

I . . . Morgan Chase Woods . . . have been advised by Special Agent(s) Mary Beth Eversman and Brian Ozden that I am suspected of receipt and/or transfer of child pornography.

I have also been advised that: (1) I have the right to remain silent and make no statement at all; (2) Any statement I do make can be used against me in a trial by court- martial or other judicial or administrative proceeding; (3) I have the right to consult with a lawyer prior to any questioning. This lawyer may be a civilian lawyer retained by me at no cost to the United States, a military lawyer appointed to act as my counsel at no

1 The agents gave Woods this false reason to protect Woods’s ex-wife.

3 cost to me, or both; (4) I have the right to have my retained civilian lawyer and/or appointed military lawyer present during this interview; and (5) I may terminate this interview at any time, for any reason.

I understand my rights as related to me and as set forth above. With that understanding, I have decided that I do not desire to remain silent, consult with a retained or appointed lawyer, or have a lawyer present at this time. I make this decision freely and voluntarily. No threats or promises have been made to me.

After reading the form, Agent Eversman asked Woods if he had any

questions. Woods had no questions. Agent Eversman then asked Woods to

indicate that he understood his rights by initialing next to each numbered

paragraph on the form. Woods initialed each of the numbered paragraphs on the

waiver form. In addition, both Woods and Agent Eversman signed the bottom of

the waiver form. Then, Agent Eversman asked Woods to read the last paragraph

of the form and asked Woods whether he would be willing to talk with her.

Woods said yes. Woods never asked for a lawyer before or during the interview.

The agents did not tell Woods that he would not be prosecuted if he

cooperated. Agent Ozden testified that the agents made no threats, inducements or

promises. Woods admitted that the agents made no promises to him at the time the

agents advised Woods of his rights. However, Woods later testified that he was

“flustered” at the time he signed the waiver form.

4 After signing the waiver form, Woods told the agents that he had viewed

child pornography on his desktop computer at his current home but had received

the child pornography inadvertently. Woods told the agents that he and his now

ex-wife had used a different computer at their former home.2 The interview lasted

approximately 30 minutes.

B. Search of Woods’s Home and Computer

During the May 12, 2009 interview, the agents asked for Woods’s consent

to search his home computer. Woods agreed and signed a consent form entitled

“Permissive Authorization for Search and Seizure.” That consent form authorized

Agents Eversman and Ozden to search Woods’s residence “and any computers

and/or electronic storage media located within [Woods’s] residence.” The consent

form further authorized the NCIS “to conduct forensic reviews . . . of all electronic

storage media and data files, to include text and graphical image files, contained

on the electronic storage media.”

After signing the consent form, Woods drove his car to his home and let the

agents follow in a separate vehicle. Woods allowed Agent Ozden to access his

home computer, and Ozden found images of child pornography. Agent Ozden

2 The computer Woods and his ex-wife used refers to the H-P computer Woods’s ex-wife turned over to the NCIS. This was a different computer from the one Woods had at his home at the time of the interview.

5 then asked Woods what Woods thought Ozden had found on the computer.

Woods stated that he thought Agent Ozden had found child pornography. The

agents told Woods that they would like to take the computer for further forensic

examination. Woods agreed and signed another consent form. Agent Eversman

then brought Woods’s home computer to the NCIS evidence facility, where it was

shipped to the Defense Computer Forensic Lab (“DCFL”) for forensic analysis.

C. Forensic Examination of Woods’s Computers

DCFL examiners found numerous images of child pornography and one

video of child pornography on the home computer Woods turned over to Agents

Eversman and Ozden. Hundreds of these images matched images of known child

pornography catalogued in the database maintained by the National Center for

Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”). Agent Eversman selected several of

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

United States v. Morgan Chase Woods, (11th Cir. 2012).

United States v. Morgan Chase Woods (United States v. Morgan Chase Woods) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

United States v. Frank
599 F.3d 1221 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Jones
601 F.3d 1247 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
Florida v. Powell
559 U.S. 50 (Supreme Court, 2010)
United States v. Waymer
55 F.3d 564 (Eleventh Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Kerr
120 F.3d 239 (Eleventh Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Bailey
123 F.3d 1381 (Eleventh Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Jernigan
341 F.3d 1273 (Eleventh Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Marvin Baker
432 F.3d 1189 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Alvin Smith
459 F.3d 1276 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Robert Eckhardt
466 F.3d 938 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Jiminez
564 F.3d 1280 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Bobb
577 F.3d 1366 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
California v. Prysock
453 U.S. 355 (Supreme Court, 1981)
New York v. Ferber
458 U.S. 747 (Supreme Court, 1982)
United States v. Williams
553 U.S. 285 (Supreme Court, 2008)
United States v. Wayerski
624 F.3d 1342 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Schmitz
634 F.3d 1247 (Eleventh Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Wetherald
636 F.3d 1315 (Eleventh Circuit, 2011)