United States v. Terry

In October 2004, AOL, an internet service provider (ISP), intercepted an email sent by user “skippie4u” containing a known child-pornography image. AOL reported the transmission to law enforcement and stated that the username “skippie4u” was registered to Brent Terry (plaintiff) under his father’s, Roy Terry’s, AOL account. AOL preserved the email routing information and the attached photograph but did not preserve the email’s content. Based on AOL’s report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers obtained a warrant to search Roy’s home in March 2005. ICE interviewed Roy, who confirmed that Brent used the “skippie4u” username. Roy told ICE officers that Brent had lived in a nearby house for approximately 18 months and that Brent used a computer in that home to access his “skippie4u” AOL email address. Using the information Roy disclosed, ICE obtained a same-day warrant to search Brent’s house. During the search, ICE seized Brent’s computer, hard drives, and other external media, on which ICE found over 120 child-pornography images and videos. The federal government (defendant) charged Brent with possession of child pornography. Brent moved to suppress the images, but the trial court denied his motion. Brent appealed, arguing that (1) the search warrant was improperly issued because there was insufficient nexus between the intercepted AOL email and Brent’s home to establish probable cause; and (2) because the content of the incriminating email was not preserved, the government cannot prove Brent sent the email for criminal, rather than innocent, purposes.