U.S. v. Knope

In prosecution on possession of child pornography and attempting to entice minor to engage in sexual act charges, Dist. Ct. did not commit reversible error in admitting evidence of other on-line chats that defendant had with other individuals purporting to be minors. While said evidence of uncharged acts was sufficiently similar to facts in instant case where defendant used same identification and sought similar requests for sexual acts from individuals purporting to be minors, Dist. Ct. erred in failing to give explicit reason to support its conclusion that said evidence, which contained sexually graphic conversations and constituted significant portion of trial, was not unlawfully prejudicial. However, any error was harmless given weight of other evidence establishing defendant’s guilt. Also, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress evidence contained in his home computer, even though defendant claimed that police obtained consent to serach computer after he had requested counsel, since request for consent did not constitute interrogation within meaning of Miranda.