United States v. Jarrett

A hacker known as Unknownuser obtained access to William Jarrett’s (defendant) computer using a Trojan-horse program that Unknownuser had attached to a picture. When Jarrett downloaded the picture, Unknownuser went into Jarrett’s computer and discovered child pornography. Unknownuser sent the relevant files to law enforcement, who indicted Jarrett for the sexual exploitation of minors. While Jarrett was under indictment, FBI agents communicated with Unknownuser many times. In these communications, the agents assured Unknownuser that he would not be prosecuted, expressed admiration and thanks, and informed Unknownuser that he was not subject to United States law because he was not a United States citizen. Unknownuser responded by suggesting that he would keep hacking into computers to look for child pornography. The agents said nothing to discourage Unknownuser. Jarrett pleaded conditionally guilty but argued that the correspondence between Unknownuser and the agents established that Unknownuser was an agent of the government, and if Unknownuser was an agent of the government, the computer search violated Jarrett’s Fourth Amendment rights. The district court agreed, finding that the correspondence showed that Unknownuser and the government had expressed their consent to an agency relationship. The government appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.