People v. McCavitt

Illinois State Police obtained warrants to seize and search a personal computer owned by Defendant, a Peoria police officer, including a warrant authorizing law enforcement to search the computer for digital evidence of 2 unrelated incidents: the aggravated criminal sexual assault of a named victim and the unauthorized video recording and live video transmission of an unnamed victim. Defendant was tried and acquitted of the alleged sexual assault before the unauthorized video recording was investigated. After acquittal and without seeking a new warrant, Peoria police department acquired and searched a copy of computer's hard drive, finding evidence of the unauthorized video recording; and also finding child pornography, which was not mentioned in the warrant. The warrant authorizing the search of Defendant's computer date diminished his expectation of privacy in the types of files described int he warrant. Any postacquittal search of the same data, directed toward finding further evidence of the sexual assault, would have exceeded the scope of the warrant. Data search by Police Department's computer forensics examiner was within the scope of the warrant as it was reasonably directed at uncovering evidence of unauthorized video recording, which was alleged in the warrant. The search was reasonable under the 4th amendment and resulted in the lawful discovery of child pornography in plain view. Trial court's denial of Defendant's motion to suppress the digital images supporting convictions of child pornography is affirmed. (A. BURKE, GARMAN, THEIS, OVERSTREET, and CARTER, concurring; NEVILLE, dissenting.)