State of Delaware v. White.

Annotate this Case
Download PDF
R o b D e p D e p 1 0 2 D o v ert J. uty A art m e W est e r, D O N e ill, J r., E s q . r n e y G e n e r a l tt o n t o f J u stic e W ater S tre et E 1 9 9 0 1 R e: A n dre M . B ro w n, S h 4 0 1 P. O R e h o b oth B e a ure g ard, E iels, B e a ure g a R e h o b oth A v . D ra w er B B e a c h, D E 1 s q. rd & C h asa n o v e n u e 9 9 7 1 S tate v . J o h n W h ite I D N o. 0 1 0 2 0 1 9 5 1 5 U p o n D e f e n d a n t s M o ti o n t o C o m p e l P u r s u a n t t o S u p e r i o r C o u rt C ri m in al R ule 1 6 - D E N IE D S u b m itte d : D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 0 1 D e cid e d: D e c e m b er 2 8, 2 0 0 1 C o u n s el: D efe n d a nt J o h n W h ite is c h a r g e d w it h t h r e e c o u n ts o f U n la w f u l S e x u al I nterc o u rs e in th e F irst D e g re e, 1 1 P e n etr ati o n i n t h e T h ir d D e g r e e, 1 1 C. D el. C . D el. C . § 7 7 5 ( 4 ), t h r e e c o u n ts o f U n la w f u l S e x u al § 7 7 0 , S e x u al E x p l o itati o n o f a C h il d , 1 1 D el. § 1 1 0 8 , U si n g a C o m p u te r t o U n la w f u ll y D e p ict a C h il d E n g a g i n g i n a P r o h i b ite d S e x u a l A c t, 1 1 D el. C . § 1 1 0 9 , a n d P o s s e s si o n o f C h il d P o r n o g r a p h y , 1 1 D el. C . § 1 1 1 1. D e f e n d a n t h a s m o v e d t o c o m p el t h e p r o d u cti o n o f a c o m p u te r h a r d d ri v e, c e rtai n c o m p u te r d is k s a n d a d i g ital c a m e r a w h ic h t h e S tate h a s s eiz e d t o h is i n v e sti g at o r s o h e m a y tra n s p o rt th e m fr o m D ela w a r e t o a f o r e n sic la b o r at o r y i n F alls C h u r c h , V ir g i n ia f o r S tate v . J o h n W h ite I D N o.0 1 0 2 0 1 9 5 1 5 D e c e m b er 2 8, 2 0 0 1 e x a m i n ati o n a n d a n al y sis. T h e S tate o p p o s e s t h e m o ti o n c o n te n d i n g t h at t h e ite m s i n cl u d e c h il d p o r n o g r a p h y , t h at state a n d f e d e r al la w p r o h i b it its d is s e m i n ati o n , a n d t h at t h e c h ai n of c u sto d y of th e e vid e n c e w o uld b e c o m pro m ise d. S u p erio r C o u rt C ri m in al R ule 1 6 (a)( 1 )( C ) p r o vid e s: U p o n r e q u e st o f t h e d e f e n d a n t t h e state s h all p e r m it t h e d e f e n d a n t t o in s p e ct a n d c o p y or p h oto gra p h b o o k s, p a p ers, d o c u m e nts, p h o t o g r a p h s, ta n g i b le o b je cts, b u il d i n g s o r p la c e s, o r c o p ie s o r p o rti o n s t h e r e o f, w h ic h a r e w it h i n t h e p o s s e s si o n , c u st o d y o r c o n tr o l o f t h e state, a n d w h ic h a r e m ate rial t o t h e p r e p a r ati o n o f t h e d efe n d a nt s d efe n se or are inte n d e d for u se b y th e state as e vid e n c e in c h i e f a t t h e t r i a l , o r w e r e o b t a i n e d f r o m o r b e l o n g t o t h e d e f e n d a n t . W h ile t h is R u le r e q u ir e s t h at t h e d e f e n d a n t b e all o w e d t h e i n s p e cti o n h e s e e k s, it als o c o n t e m p l a t e s e it h e r a n a g r e e m e n t o f t h e p a rti e s, o r f a ili n g t h a t, t h e r e g u l a ti o n b y t h e C o u rt o f h o w t h e i n s p e cti o n w ill b e c o n d u cte d . W it h o u t q u e sti o n c h il d p o r n o g r a p h y is ille g al c o n tr a b a n d a n d it m a y n o t b e tr a n s p o rte d a c r o s s state li n e s. S ee 4 8 U .S. C . § 2 2 5 2. N o r c o uld this C o u rt g ra nt D e f e n d a n t s i n v e sti g at o r i m m u n it y fr o m f e d e r al p r o s e c u ti o n a s t h e d e f e n s e h a s s u g g e ste d . I c o n cl u d e t h at u n d e r t h e cir c u m sta n c e s o f t h is c a s e t h e i n s p e cti o n a u t h o riz e d b y C ri m i n al R u le 1 6 m u st ta k e p la c e i n D ela w a r e o n t h e p r e m is e s o f a D ela w a r e S tate P o lic e f a cilit y o r s u c h o t h e r l o c ati o n w it h i n t h e S tate a s t h e p a rtie s a g r e e. T h e S tate s h all f a cilitate t h e i n s p e cti o n w h ic h s h all c o n ti n u e fr o m d a y t o d a y u n til c o m p lete d b y t h e 2 S tate v . J o h n W h ite I D N o.0 1 0 2 0 1 9 5 1 5 D e c e m b er 2 8, 2 0 0 1 D e f e n d a n t s e x p e rt. T h is o r d e r is s u b j e c t t o s u c h f u rt h e r o r d e r a s m a y b e n e c e s s a r y t o e n s ure th e disc o v ery c o nte m plate d b y th e R ule. A c c o r d i n g l y , D e f e n d a n t s M o ti o n t o C o m p e l t h e d e li v e r y o f t h e all e g e d c o n tr a b a n d . t o h is i n v e sti g at o r f o r tr a n s p o rt t o V ir g i n ia is D E N IE D I T I S S O O R D E R E D . V er y tr uly y o u rs, /s/ H e nry d u P o nt R id g ely c m h o c: x c: P roth o n otary O r d e r d istri b u ti o n 3

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.