Defendant was charged with unlawful possession of child pornography, alleging that he possessed lewd digital images of girls who he knew or reasonably should have known to be under age 13. Court properly denied motion to suppress images police officers obtained from a micro-SD card belonging to him. Defendant's wife retrieved the card for police from a shelf that was accessible to her, and thus she had common authority over the card and could consent to police searching it. Officers had reasonable grounds to remove Defendant from their apartment so that wife could obtain the card and give it to officers outside of Defendant's presence, to protect wife from Defendant who had been physically violent toward her previously.Five of the six factors which must be considered to determine whether an image of a child is "lewd" were satisfied. Based on her physical characteristics, girl in photo was under age 13. Evidence was sufficient to support conviction. (DAUGHERITY, concurring; WRIGHT, specially concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Child Pornography