United States v. Sassani

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedMarch 4, 1998
Docket97-4011
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Sassani (United States v. Sassani) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Sassani, (4th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v. No. 97-4011

MICHAEL BRUCE SASSANI, Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Deborah K. Chasanow, District Judge. (CR-96-12DKC)

Argued: December 5, 1997

Decided: March 4, 1998

Before NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge, and MICHAEL, Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Roger Mark Adelman, KIRKPATRICK & LOCKHART, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Sandra Wilkinson, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Lynne A. Battaglia, United States Attorney, Beth P. Gesner, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________ Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Background

In 1994, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified by an America OnLine1 customer and police officer, Richard Ivey, of receipt of unsolicited pornographic graphic2 image files from another America OnLine subscriber by the name of "BIG MIKE 8." In Sep- tember 1994, a special agent of the FBI, acting in an undercover capacity, engaged in electronic conversations with BIG MIKE 8, in connection with which BIG MIKE 8 transmitted, via America OnLine, at least five sexually explicit graphic images of persons apparently under the age of eighteen. In October 1994, a cooperating witness also received from BIG MIKE 8 an electronically transmitted message and sexually explicit graphic image of two persons appar- ently under the age of eighteen. Further investigation revealed the subscriber "BIG MIKE 8" to be registered as Michael Bruce Sassani. In March 1995, four more sexually explicit graphic images, including pictures of individuals apparently under the age of eighteen, were electronically transmitted to undercover agents by BIG MIKE 8.

On 13 September 1995, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents executed a search warrant at the home of Michael Sassani in Maryland. During the six-hour search, the agents seized Mr. Sassani's personal computer, 382 floppy disks, numerous personal documents and photographs, and a small quantity of narcotics. 3 After extensive _________________________________________________________________ 1 America OnLine is a commercial computer service and online access provider. 2 The court uses the adjective"graphic" only to identify the electronic files as pictorial representations. 3 Mr. Sassani has been charged in Maryland state court with possession of narcotics. The case is pending.

2 review of the hard drive of the computer and the 382 floppy diskettes seized, the FBI determined that the drive and the disks contained a total of 176 visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.4 The agents concluded that at least ten of the pictures por- trayed individuals under twelve years of age.

On January 22, 1996, defendant was indicted on six counts for vio- lations of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251-2260 (West 1997). On May 20, 1996, the district court denied all of the defendant's pretrial motions, which included motions to suppress evidence, for an evidentiary hearing regarding the execution of the search warrant, and for an evidentiary hearing pursu- ant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978). The United States filed a superseding indictment against Mr. Sassani on May 29, 1996. On July 29, 1996, Mr. Sassani entered a conditional plea of guilty to Count VI of the superseding indictment. Count VI charged possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4). As part of the factual stipulations underlying the plea, the defendant admitted to transmitting pornography on September 30, 1994. At the conclu- sion of a four-day sentencing hearing, the district court sentenced Mr. Sassani to eighteen months incarceration.5 The defendant raises three issues on appeal. First, the defendant argues that the district court erred when it denied an evidentiary hearing on the defendant's chal- lenge to the sufficiency of the affidavit underlying the application for a search warrant. Second and related to the first, the defendant argues that the district court erred in denying the defendant's motion to sup- press the evidence seized under the search warrant. Finally, defendant argues that the district court erred in refusing to depart downward for reduced mental capacity. _________________________________________________________________

4 On the hard drive of the defendant's computer were 16,226 files, of which 56 were graphic images of individuals apparently under eighteen years of age. On 382 floppy diskettes were 6,731 files of which 120 were graphic images of individuals apparently under eighteen.

5 This was the minimum possible sentence in the Sentencing Guideline range.

3 The Franks Hearing

The defendant argues first that the district court erred in refusing to hold a hearing on the defendant's motion to suppress the evidence seized from Mr. Sassani's home. However, a hearing on a motion to test the sufficiency of the warrant is required only under certain cir- cumstances. Simmons v. Poe explains:

This Court has construed the Supreme Court's opinion in Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), very strictly, finding in large part that Franks hearings are not required unless an omission from a warrant affidavit is the product of a deliberate falsehood or done in reckless disregard of the truth. In United States v. Colkley, 899 F.2d 297 (4th Cir. 1990), this Court articulated the two-pronged standard under which Franks claims must be analyzed. In that case, we addressed whether an evidenti- ary hearing was required under Franks where the defendant challenged the affidavit used in support of his arrest warrant on the grounds that it failed to note that numerous witnesses did not identify him in a photographic spread, and because the police officer based the height description of the defen- dant in disregard of the testimony of some witnesses. 899 F.2d at 299. In finding that a Franks hearing on the facial validity of the affidavit was not warranted, we articulated a two-part threshold test for making such a determination: a Franks hearing is warranted if (1) the defendant makes a substantial preliminary showing that a false statement know- ingly and intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, was included by the affiant in a warrant affidavit, and (2) the defendant shows that the false information was essential to the probable cause determination. Id. at 300.

47 F.3d 1370, 1378 (4th Cir. 1995). See also United States v. Hartsell, 127 F.3d 343 (4th Cir. 1997), citing United States v. Jeffus, 22 F.3d 554, 559 (4th Cir.

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