Defendant pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor and transportation of child pornography and was sentenced to 240 months in prison. On appeal, defendant argued that the district court should have suppressed evidence found on his cell phone, including photographs, text messages, and a video. The search was authorized by a warrant and defendant conceded that there was probable cause to issue the warrant, but defendant argued that the police took too long of a period of time after his arrest to seek out the warrant. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that the delay of 40 days from when the police seized the phone to when they obtained the search warrant was not unreasonable where the phone remained in police custody the entire time and where defendant did not petition for the return of his property. (JACKSON-AKIWUMI and KOLAR, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Search Warrant