United States v. Darr, No. 11-1343 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant entered a conditional guilty plea to production of child pornography. On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's denial of a motion to suppress evidence. The court held that, considering the nature of the crimes, ongoing related activity of defendant, and the nature of the property sought, the information set forth in a police officer's affidavit was not so stale as to preclude a determination of probable cause or reasonable reliance on the warrant; because the first warrant authorized the search of the entire premises for the items listed, officers did not exceed its scope by searching defendant's bedroom, even though the first warrant was issued based on information about activities of defendant; the seizure of the items found in the VHS cassette holder was proper under the plain view exception; it was unnecessary to decide whether the second warrant authorized a search of the cooler and tin because those areas were properly searched pursuant to the first warrant; and there was probable cause to search the memory card and videotapes and the warrant application certainly was not so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to make reliance on the warrant objectively unreasonable.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Warrant was supported by probable cause to believe evidence of child molestation was present at defendant's residence; search did not exceed scope of the warrant, and items in plain view were properly seized as their incriminating nature and connection to the offense were immediately apparent to officers; subsequent warrant application to examine certain storage media seized during the search was supported by probable cause to believe evidence of the offenses was present on the media.
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