United States v. McArthur

Officer Trent Koppel arrested Roderick McArthur (plaintiff) for public indecency after discovering McArthur masturbating in his car outside a mall. After McArthur’s arrest and booking, police inventoried McArthur’s belongings and found a laminated child pornography image in his wallet. Koppel reported the discovery to Detective Juan Gomez, a child-pornography specialist. Gomez found that McArthur had two prior convictions for sex offenses against minors but had failed to register as a sex offender. Gomez applied for a warrant to search McArthur’s home for child pornography, arguing that McArthur’s recent public-indecency arrest, his past convictions for sex offenses against children, his failure to register as a sex offender, the child-pornography photograph found in his wallet, and the fact that individuals who possessed child pornography typically hoarded it in their homes collectively established sufficient probable cause. The warrant was issued. Gomez searched McArthur’s home, seized McArthur’s computer, and arrested McArthur for failing to register as a sex offender. McArthur consented to a search of his computer. A preliminary search of McArthur’s computer found evidence of child pornography. Citing the preliminary findings, and out of an abundance of caution, Gomez applied for and received a warrant to search McArthur’s computer. A forensic analysis of McArthur’s computer found multiple child-pornography images along with authentication credentials for several child-pornography websites. The federal government (defendant) charged McArthur with possession of child pornography. McArthur moved to suppress the evidence found on his computer, arguing that the initial search warrant for his home was issued without probable cause because there was an insufficient nexus between McArthur’s home and his possession of child pornography at the mall. The trial court denied McArthur’s motion. McArthur appealed.