People v. Seymour
Colorado Supreme Court
536 P.3d 1260 (2023)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
A house fire killed five people. After the initial investigation did not reveal any suspects, the police sought a reverse-keyword warrant. Investigators submitted detailed evidence to the judge supporting their belief that the perpetrators had likely entered the house’s address into Google’s search engine shortly before the crime. The judge issued a warrant allowing the police to hunt through Google’s databases for the internet-protocol (IP) addresses of users who had searched the target house’s address in the 15 days before the fire. This search returned five Colorado IP addresses. Further investigation linked one of those IP addresses to Gavin Seymour (defendant), who was later charged with arson and murder. Seymour moved to suppress all evidence resulting from the reverse-keyword warrant, arguing that it had lacked the constitutionally required particularity and probable cause. The trial court denied the suppression motion. The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to review the matter.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hood, J.)
Dissent (Marquez, J.)
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