Crabtree v. Commonwealth, 2014 Ky. LEXIS 609

Crabtree, EKU student with cognitive impairment, downloaded images and videos via Limewire to shock himself.
In 2008, his computer was brought to Resnet; suspicious filenames prompted campus police involvement and a forensic lab examination.
Crabtree admitted to downloading some files, including child pornography, and wrote a signed statement acknowledging wrongdoing and attempted deletion.
Forensic analysis found five videos (one complete, four incomplete) and sixty-two still images suspected of depicting minors; stills found in Windows Vista thumb-cache, not in accessible folders.
Crabtree was indicted on 67 counts for possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor; the jury acquitted one video, convicted on others and on 65 still-image-related counts, with a five-year sentence per felony count, all concurrent.
Court of Appeals affirmed videotape convictions but reversed still-image convictions; discretionary review granted to address sufficiency of proof and innocent-possession instruction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for video convictions	Crabtree lacked knowledge of content; filenames alone insufficient.	Possession did not prove knowledge; cache and incomplete downloads undermine mens rea.	Videos: sufficient evidence of knowing possession; still images: insufficient
Innocent-possession instruction for child pornography	Adkins defense of innocent possession should apply to videos and images.	There was evidence of incidental possession; instruction required.	No innocent-possession instruction required for videos; convictions for videos affirmed, still-image convictions reversed
Meaning of 'knowingly' possession and jury instructions	Jury should determine if knowledge includes temporary viewing/possession.	Judge should tailor instructions to avoid ambiguity; insufficient evidence of inadvertent possession.	Trial court did not err; instructions conformed to statute
Admission/weight of character evidence	Crabtree’s truthfulness evidence should be admitted to counter police characterization.	Character evidence improperly framed; opinion on truthfulness should be limited.	Exclusion deemed harmless; no reversible error

Commonwealth v. Benham, 816 S.W.2d 186 (Ky. 1991) (established standard for directed verdict and sufficiency review)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (directed-verdict standard; rational nexus to guilt)
Adkins v. Commonwealth, 331 S.W.3d 260 (Ky. 2011) (innocent-possession defense in possession/trafficking context)
United States v. Kuchinski, 469 F.3d 853 (9th Cir. 2006) (cache possession requires knowledge or dominion; mere presence not enough)
Romm v. United States, 455 F.3d 990 (9th Cir. 2006) (possession can be based on seeking and controlling images online)
Kain v. United States, 589 F.3d 945 (8th Cir. 2009) (possession can attach to images found online even if some are in cache or deleted)
United States v. Dobbs, 629 F.3d 1199 (10th Cir. 2011) (distinguishes cache-based possession; need knowledge of caching process)
United States v. Figueroa-Lugo, 915 F. Supp. 2d 237 (D.P.R. 2013) (incomplete downloads found on hard drive can support knowing possession)
Keefer v. United States, 405 Fed. Appx. 955 (6th Cir. 2010) (unallocated space for images; possession not established by mere presence)