Commonwealth v. Adalberto Martinez
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
71 N.E.3d 105 (2017)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
A police officer discovered that a computer using the Internet protocol (IP) address 65.96.142.191 was sharing child pornography via a peer-to-peer network. The officer downloaded four video files. In response to a subpoena, the Internet service provider (ISP) associated with the address identified Angel Martinez at a Massachusetts address (the apartment) as the subscriber to whom the IP address was assigned when the officer downloaded the videos. The apartment was in a housing development and leased by Maria Avilez. Massachusetts police obtained a warrant to search the apartment for computers connected to child-pornography possession and distribution. The supporting affidavit averred that IP address 65.96.142.191 was used to share child pornography and was assigned at the relevant time to a subscriber at the apartment. The police seized two laptops belonging to Adalberto Martinez (defendant) and found video files containing child pornography. Martinez was convicted of possessing child pornography. On appeal, Martinez challenged the denial of his suppression motion, arguing that the supporting affidavit did not establish probable cause because (1) the police could neither verify that the named subscriber lived at the apartment nor exclude the possibility that someone else was using the IP address at the relevant time and (2) the police did not determine whether the apartment’s Internet used a wireless router and required a password, making it possible that someone other than the named subscriber located elsewhere was using the apartment’s unsecured wireless network.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Botsford, J.)
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