984 F.3d 421
5th Cir.2021Background
- Morton was stopped for speeding; officers found a small bag of marijuana, ~16 ecstasy pills, and drug paraphernalia; various personal items in the van raised unrelated child-exploitation suspicions.
- DPS Trooper Burt Blue (14 years’ experience, 8 as a DRE) obtained warrants to search three cellphones for evidence of drug possession and “other criminal activity,” listing contacts, call logs, texts, and photographs.
- Magistrate issued the warrants; while executing them officers discovered sexually explicit images of minors, obtained second warrants, and ultimately recovered 19,270 images.
- Morton was indicted for possession/distribution of child pornography; he moved to suppress the images as fruit of an unlawful search.
- The district court denied suppression; Morton pled guilty while reserving the right to appeal the suppression ruling. The Fifth Circuit reviewed the warrant affidavits and the good-faith claim.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Probable cause to search cellphone photographs for evidence of drug possession | Affidavits’ statements about officer training and that traffickers often photograph drugs/co-conspirators supplied probable cause to search all phone categories, including photos | Photos were unrelated to simple possession; only personal-use quantities were found and no indicia of trafficking, so no fair probability photos would contain drug-possession evidence | No probable cause for photographs; affidavits failed to connect photos to simple possession |
| Applicability of Leon good-faith exception to admit images | Even if affidavit was defective, officers reasonably relied on magistrate-issued warrants; evidence should not be excluded | Reliance was objectively unreasonable because a well-trained officer would know photos search was unsupported by probable cause given user-quantity evidence | Good-faith exception does not apply; reliance was objectively unreasonable |
| Deference to magistrate—substantial-basis review of probable cause | Magistrate reasonably could infer trafficker-related evidence might be on phone and thus authorize broader search | Magistrate lacked substantial basis because affidavits only supported possession (not trafficking) and provided no specific link between photos and possession | Magistrate lacked a substantial basis to authorize searching photographs; warrant invalid as to photos |
| Fate of evidence from second warrant (derived from images found in first search) | Second warrant cured any defect; evidence admissible | Second warrant was tainted because it relied on images obtained by unconstitutional first search | Evidence from second warrant was fruit of the poisonous tree and inadmissible; conviction vacated |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (good-faith exception to exclusionary rule)
- Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (cellphones contain distinct data categories; probable cause required for different categories)
- Safford Unified School Dist. No. 1 v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364 (probable-cause/fair-probability standard)
- Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690 (officers may rely on training/experience in affidavits)
- Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160 (officers allowed reasonable mistakes; limits on objectively unreasonable reliance)
- Nathanson v. United States, 290 U.S. 41 (mere affirmation of suspicion insufficient for probable cause)
- United States v. Allen, 625 F.3d 830 (5th Cir.) (two-step review: good-faith then magistrate probable-cause substantial-basis review)
- United States v. Carey, 172 F.3d 1268 (10th Cir.) (analogous suppression where photos were searched without particularized probable cause)