Commonwealth v. Kean

Daniel and Lucile Kean (defendants) were a married couple. Lucile had a sexual relationship with two teenage boys of which Daniel was aware and observed. The teenagers took the Keans’ car without permission and became concerned that the Keans would report it as theft. The teenagers also worried that Lucile would claim that the sexual relations were not consensual. So the teenagers broke into the Keans’ house, set up a hidden video camera, and recorded the next sexual encounter. Rumors spread of the tape’s existence, and one of the boys’ mothers learned of it. The boy confirmed to his mother the tape’s existence and gave the tape to her. The boy’s mother had another person watch the tape, and this person confirmed the contents. The boy’s mother held onto the tape for several weeks before giving it to a police officer. The officer, without obtaining a warrant, watched the tape with the district attorney. The district attorney charged the Keans with various sex-related crimes. Pretrial, the Keans moved to suppress the videotape as the product of an unreasonable search. The trial court denied the motion, and the jury convicted the Keans on all counts after viewing the tape. The Keans appealed, claiming that admission of the videotape violated their Fourth Amendment rights and their rights against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Pennsylvania Constitution.