Jones v. Clark County, No. 19-5143 (6th Cir. 2020)
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In October 2013, Lexington police tracked the source of a child pornography video to a Clark County IP address. Deputy Murray obtained a subpoena and identified Jones as the subscriber associated with the IP address. Murray secured a search warrant for Jones’ address, noting that Jones was not yet a “suspect” and did not necessarily have “possession” of devices connected to child pornography. Murray and others executed the warrant and seized devices. Jones was home alone; after completing the search, officers him to the Sheriff’s Office. Several officers later acknowledged that they knew an individual’s IP address could be hacked by a third party.
After Jones was indicted, Murray received forensic testing results that failed to yield a copy of the pornographic video. It is unclear whether the prosecutors or Jones’ public defender were informed. The prosecution continued. In November 2014, the defense commissioned a forensic analysis of Jones’ phone and tablet that also found no evidence of child pornography. Unlike the first report, it reported no evidence that Jones ever used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. After posting a reduced bond, Jones was released from jail 14 months after his arrest. In April 2015, the charges were dismissed without prejudice, on the Commonwealth’s motion.
Jones sought damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The district court granted the defendants summary judgment. The Sixth Circuit reversed with respect to qualified immunity for Murray but otherwise affirmed. While there was probable cause for Jones' initial arrest. Murray knew by January 2014 that there was no evidence of child pornography on Jones’ devices. Because there is a factual dispute as to whether Murray informed the prosecutors of these results, a genuine issue exists as to whether Murray “knowingly or recklessly” withheld exculpatory evidence.
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