United States v. Nickie Gray, Jr.

641 F. App'x 462
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 5, 2016
Docket15-3187
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 641 F. App'x 462 (United States v. Nickie Gray, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Nickie Gray, Jr., 641 F. App'x 462 (6th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge.

Nickie Thomas Gray, Jr. had approximately 350 images and 20 videos of child pornography on his computer when investigators executed a search warrant at his house. He was charged with and convicted of one count of knowingly receiving and distributing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2), and one count of knowingly possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). On appeal, he brings several claims of error, challenging his convictions- and sentence. On due consideration, we find no merit in any of the claims and therefore affirm his convictions and sentence for knowingly receiving and knowingly possessing child pornography.

*464 I

In 2013, a special agent from the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program 1 to identify internet protocol (IP) addresses of other computers on the program’s network that were distributing files containing known images and videos of child pornography. On February 14, 2013, the agent identified an IP address that had such files available for download via the file sharing network. He successfully downloaded three files from that IP address and confirmed that they contained child pornography. The agent then subpoenaed Time Warner Cable for the customer information for the IP address in question and learned that it was registered to Helen Gray in Youngstown, Ohio. Helen Gray is the defendant’s mother. She and the defendant were the only occupants of the house. Between February 14, 2013 and April 1, 2014, investigators from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Mahoning County Sheriffs Office were able to download files containing child pornography from this same IP address using the peer-to-peer program. Investigators continued to confirm that the customer linked to that IP address was Helen Gray and that Nick-ie Gray also resided with her.

On April 17, 2014, investigators executed a search warrant at t)ie Gray residence and found a computer on a desk in the dining room. The computer was password protected. Helen Gray did not know the password. A computer forensic specialist from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation examined the computer, discovered that it contained child pornography, and seized it as evidence. The IP address of that computer was the same as the IP address that had permitted investigators to download child pornography on the peer-to-peer program.

Further examination of the computer revealed that it contained peer-to-peer software and numerous images and videos of child pornography. A computer forensic specialist found search terms in the computer’s peer-to-peer program that were indicative of child pornography. The computer also showed that images and videos of child pornography had been viewed and deleted. The computer had software installed called SlimCleaner, a program that is capable of securely deleting files. .

On May 6, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted Nickie Gray on two counts: (1) receiving and distributing computer files that contained visual depictions of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct from February 14, 2013 through April 1, 2014 in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2); and (2) possessing two Gateway computers and two Western Digital hard drives that contained child pornography that included an image of a prepubescent minor on April 17, 2014 in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). The case proceeded to trial and a jury found Gray guilty of both counts. 2 The district court sentenced Gray to 240 months’ imprisonment for each charge to run concurrently, followed by ten years of supervised release for each charge to run concurrently, and ordered him to pay a $200 special assessment. Gray subsequently brought this timely appeal.

*465 II

Gray claims that his convictions for both knowingly receiving child pornography and knowingly possessing child pornography violate the- Double Jeopardy Clause. He did not raise this objection before the district court, and so we review only for plain error. United States v. Branham, 97 F.3d 835, 841-42 (6th Cir.1996). Plain error occurs where there is “(1) ‘error,’ (2) that is ‘plain,’ and (3) that ‘affect[s] substantial rights.’ If all three conditions are met, an appellate court may then exercise its discretion to notice a forfeited error, but only if (4) the error ‘seriously affectfs] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.’ ” Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 467, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997) (alteration in original) (citations omitted) (quoting United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993)). “[T]he burden of establishing entitlement to relief for plain error is on the defendant claiming it.” United States v. Dominguez Benitez, 542 U.S. 74, 82, 124 S.Ct. 2333, 159 L.Ed.2d 157 (2004). “Only in exceptional circumstances in which the error is so plain that the trial judge and prosecutor were derelict in countenancing it will this court reverse a conviction under the plain-error standard.” United States v. Henry, 545 F.3d 367, 377 (6th Cir.2008).

The Double Jeopardy Clause “protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.” North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969). Two statutes proscribe different offenses only if each offense requires proof of an element that the other does not. Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). Using the Blockburger test, we have held that convictions for both knowingly possessing child pornography and knowingly receiving the same child pornography constituted multiple punishments for the same conduct. United States v. Ehle, 640 F.3d 689, 694-95 (6th Cir.2011). However, convictions for both receipt and possession of child pornography will stand if separate conduct underlies the two charges. United States v. Dudeck, 657 F.3d 424, 430 (6th Cir.2011) (remanding for fact-finding as to whether plea-based convictions were based on separate conduct, whereupon convictions were sustained based on a finding of different images, see United States v. Dudeck, No. 12-3076 (6th Cir. Jan. 25, 2013)); see also United States v.

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641 F. App'x 462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-nickie-gray-jr-ca6-2016.