United States v. Gourde

Micah Gourde (plaintiff) had a paid membership to Lolitagurls.com, a website offering a mix of adult and child pornography images for viewing and download. The website header clearly stated it offered explicit images of girls aged 12 to 17. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shut down the website following an investigation and collected, but did not review, the website’s image download log. Lancelot Security, the credit card payment processor that handled membership payments for Lolitagurls.com, provided the FBI with a list of all paid subscribers, including full names, home addresses, and email addresses. Gourde was listed as an active paid subscriber. Based on Gourde’s active membership with Lolitagurls.com, the FBI applied for a warrant to search Gourde’s computer. In the warrant application, the FBI stated that (1) collectors of child pornography frequently hoard images on their computers; (2) images downloaded on computers can be recovered even after deletion; (3) Gourde’s Lolitagurls.com membership indicated he was likely a collector of child pornography; and (4) Gourde’s membership gave him viewing and download access to hundreds of child-pornography images. The magistrate issued the search warrant. The FBI seized Gourde’s computer and found over 100 child-pornography images on it. The federal government (defendant) charged Gourde with possession of child pornography. Gourde moved to suppress the evidence found on his computer, arguing the search warrant was issued without probable cause. The district court denied Gourde’s motion, holding that, based on a totality of the circumstances, Gourde’s membership account with a child-pornography website established probable cause that Gourde possessed child pornography. Gourde appealed.