United States v. Luken

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers believed that credit cards belonging to Jonathan Luken (defendant) had been used to purchase child pornography. Law-enforcement officers visited Luken at work and told Luken that they believed his credit card had been used to purchase child pornography and wanted to speak with him privately and look at his home computer. Luken met the officers at his house and spoke to one of the officers in his car. Luken admitted to purchasing and downloading child pornography but stated that he did not believe any pornographic images were saved on his computer. The officer explained to Luken that even if files had been deleted, police could recover them with special software. The officer asked Luken if a search with special software would reveal child pornography on the computer. Luken stated that the police might find shots of naked children. Luken signed a statement agreeing to give law enforcement permission to seize and view his computer. Forensic software was used to analyze the computer and revealed 200 pictures that were child pornography. Luken was indicted for possession of child pornography. Luken’s motion to suppress the evidence collected from his computer was denied. Luken agreed to plead guilty but reserved the right to appeal the decision denying his suppression motion. On appeal, Luken argued that the search of his computer exceeded the scope of his voluntary consent and that the Fourth Amendment therefore required suppression of the evidence collected from the computer.