U.S. v. Taylor

In prosecution on child pornography charges, Dist. Ct. erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress chile pornography seized from his home, where said seizure was pursuant to search warrant that allowed police to search for child pornography and evidence of bestiality, as well as denying defendant’s motion for Frank’s hearing. Franks hearing was required, since: (1) police affidavit in support of warrant contained false statements and omissions regarding personal relationships between tipster and various police officers as well as defendant that could have had effect on ultimate finding of probable cause; and (2) warrant contained unexplained handwritten alterations that purportedly allowed police to search for evidence of bestiality. Ct. of Appeals also held that while affidavit in support of warrant contained probable cause to support search for evidence of bestiality, it did not contain sufficient sworn facts to support probable cause to search for child pornography, where: (1) tipster never claimed that defendant sent her pictures of young girls or had expressed interest in engaging in sexual activity with children; (2) defendant had made only reference to visiting Thailand; and (3) defendant made only vague offer to send tipster images of young girls. Motion to suppress could still be denied, if Dist. Ct. finds on remand that search for bestiality was actually authorized by warrant-issuing judge, since search for evidence of bestiality could have uncovered child pornography that formed basis of charged offenses.