Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (child porn)

[jpye]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Tennessee

The man I have been with for the past 7 years (except we were not together when all of this occurred), was found guilty of two very serious charges last week. The first is aggravated stalking (he sent a 17 year old flowers, etc.. anonymously!!!), but the big one is sexual exploitation of a minor. Child pornography on his computer that he was NOT aware of. Two cops came to his apartment and made him sign a "search waiver" and they took the computer. The big thing is that they accessed the files on the computer (from the jail I assume), so therefore the timestamps are different and files were accessed & changed AFTER the computer was seized. The cop admitted to it on the stand. I believe they should of made a copy of the harddrives and sent them off to be analyzed. They showed every single picture/video to the jury. Seemed to be based more on emotion than logic. His lawyer is a piece of crap and did not defend him at ALL during the trial. It was a joke. He did not object to the computer being admitted as evidence. He pretty much didn't object to anything, and he should of done so many many times.

We have no idea where to go from here. First, we definitely need another criminal defense attorney who is excellent and knows what he is doing. We aren't sure how to go about finding someone who can really defend him and do a good job and know what they are talking about. Does anyone know??? I was thinking we would motion for a mistrial before going the appeal route. I really have no idea, but we don't know where to find the best lawyer.

Can someone please offer some advice?

Thank you.

[SSandecki]

Let me get this straight; the man had child porn on his computer and you're claiming it's the police who were looking at it? Ofcourse the timestamps of when they were accessed were changed since the police had to view it to see if it was or was not child porn. You would be surprised what some people do in their own privacy.

[uns007]

I think the police had no right to go through his computer.

[JEpstein]

Let me get this straight; the man had child porn on his computer and you're claiming it's the police who were looking at it? Ofcourse the timestamps of when they were accessed were changed since the police had to view it to see if it was or was not child porn. You would be surprised what some people do in their own privacy.

There is a last accessed date and a date created. If the date created was after the seizure this reeks of police corruption. Because of the emotional bias against such defendants or most defendants I wouldnt doubt it at all. As far as finding an attorney in your area just keep browsing the net till you find one in Louisiana whom you trust.

To be honest tho, after trial it is an uphill battle but if your correct it may be a battle well worth fighting. Good luck.

[LawsuitLawyer]

I think how can a police search his personal computer.

[conorg]

The police had no right to search his computer

[merabasera]

You have to keep searching on....until a bet lawyer didn't understand your case

[JEpstein]

You have to keep searching on....until a bet lawyer didn't understand your case

Unfortunately you are probably right. Many lawyers are not tech savvy though many are.

[MIcrimdefense]

Unless the police had a search warrant to go through your computer, which means that a judge must agree that they have probable cause to discover a crime. Otherwise, your defense criminal lawyer can argue that the officer acted against the law and not in compliance with search and seizure procedures outlined by the Constitution. I would get a good defense lawyer immediately--they'll be able to help you point out the police officer's errors in court and make it count.

[CheckThis]

MIcrimedefense is right. You are helpless without knowledgeable 4th Amd attorneys. Most assigned attorneys are in with the DA and investigators. They eat and sleep plea deals and do not worry about 4th Amd search and seizure law. The law (enforcement) is the authority in their book. All they have to do is arrest you, show the pictures to a local judge and/or jury and you are toast. The sexual exploitation arrest business is booming. Legislators in all states with the help of Federal officials have rightly seen the threat of sexual exploitation but have moved the statutes and penalties up so far because they allowed this to become emotion controlled legislation. Just this last week there were two arrests for 2nd degree sex exploit in my area. Seems they always come up with five counts at first, then shotgun you with ten counts. Where they get the # of counts to me has not been shown in local court, no one challenges the # of counts. (attorneys) They seem to think each picture is a count. Federal law has their statute spelled out. The offense is basic and enhancements to sentencing are spelled out. Most states just have the offense with no guidance for enhancement (number of counts, etc.) The idea is to get five or ten counts against you so you will serve 60,70,80 years and then intimidated to agree with a plea deal, depending upon how strong their case is. Also, after serving the state penalty you are subject to Federal indictment of the same offense. It is crazy. All for having a few dirty pictures on a computer. If they would search most all computers, they would be surprised to see how many more prisons would need to be built. See this case in CA, People v. Hertzig, THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT, Sacramento, filed 10/24/07 C053674 (Super. Ct. No.05F08338) where ten counts of sex exploit were knocked down to one count for re-sentencing. Law enforcement and the courts have gone overboard on this and really need to get the real exploiters, not the pseudo ones. It is interesting to read what the appeal judge said. Appeals court is most defendants only decent chance to get heard. They work for all the people.