Barton v. State
Georgia Court of Appeals
648 S.E.2d 660 (2007)
- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
Edward Barton (defendant) was convicted of knowingly possessing child pornography under state law. At trial, a forensic computer analyst testified that the images in question were in Barton’s computer’s temporary Internet file folder or cache. All computers automatically stored images in a temporary folder when files were viewed over the Internet, and there was nothing a computer user could do to prevent it. The files stored temporarily could come from files computer users intended to look at or from pop-up windows neither sought nor desired by the user. Nobody using Barton’s computer could have retrieved the information in the temporary files without special forensic software, and no such software was found on Barton’s computer. Although the files showed that Barton had viewed child pornography on the Internet, it did not show for how long or if Barton had intended to view the images. Barton appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, arguing that the state had failed to show that he knowingly possessed the pornographic images leading to his conviction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Miller, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
