People v. Quatrine, No. 272074 (Mich. App. 4/8/2008), No. 272074.
| Decision Date | 08 April 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 272074. |
| Parties | PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHARLES QUATRINE, JR., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
Appeal from Macomb Circuit Court, LC No. 2005-001299-FH.
Before: Schuette, P.J., and Borrello and Gleicher, JJ.
Defendant appeals as of right his jury trial convictions of six counts of making or producing child sexually abusive material, MCL 750.145c(2), one count of possession of child sexually abusive material, MCL 750.145c(4), and one count of eavesdropping, MCL 750.539d. The trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent terms of 130 months' to 20 years' imprisonment for each count of making or producing child sexually abusive material, one year of incarceration for the possession of child sexually abusive material conviction, and one month of incarceration for the eavesdropping conviction. We affirm defendant's convictions and the attendant terms of incarceration imposed by the trial court, but remand for a determination of defendant's ability to pay court-appointed attorney fees.
The events leading to the prosecution's institution of charges against defendant commenced on December 9, 2004, when defendant told his teenaged son, Corey, about a "comical [steroid] song," which defendant claimed to have found on the Internet and downloaded to his computer. Corey searched for the song on a home computer network that linked a laptop computer in defendant's bedroom, a laptop computer in Corey's basement bedroom, and a laptop computer in the family room. Defendant had purchased and installed the computer network several years earlier.
The configuration of the network permitted a computer user to access files on the linked computers by clicking on a "Network Connections" icon. Corey testified that he employed the "Network Connections" link to look for the song in the network's shared files. While searching, Corey noticed a file named "RAC," which he had not previously seen, and opened it. Corey recounted that the file automatically began to display via Windows Media Player video images of a girl wearing a towel, "coming into a room and closing the door, like she just came out of the shower." Corey recognized the setting of the video as one of the bedrooms in his home, and identified the girl as the daughter of defendant's girlfriend (the victim), then about age 14. As Corey watched, the video revealed the victim drop the towel to put on clothing. Corey could see "[t]he whole front end of her body."
At trial, Corey identified the bedroom visible in the video as one that the victim previously had used when she and her mother stayed overnight in defendant's home. Corey copied the "RAC" file from defendant's computer to his own laptop. Corey then went upstairs to the bedroom featured in the video, where he found a satellite box with a hole "drilled in it," sitting on top of a television. Corey discovered a small camera inside the satellite box. Corey returned to his basement bedroom and searched the home computer network for other files labeled "RAC," ultimately finding at least five of them. But he could not open any of the other "RAC" files because they were "password locked," and he did not know the password.
The next day at school, Corey described to the victim's brother, Richard Rowe, the content of the "RAC" video file and the presence of the hidden camera. Corey and Richard decided to report Corey's discoveries to Christopher Filimon, the school police officer. Filimon testified that he listened to Corey's description of the circumstances leading to his discovery of the computer images and the hidden camera, and that Corey cried while recounting them. Filimon allowed Corey and Richard to leave the school to retrieve Corey's laptop computer. When they returned with the laptop, Filimon watched the video of the victim "long enough to see a young girl enter into this room with a towel on her." He explained that he stopped watching the video at that point because Richard "had his head down in [sic] the ground and I didn't want to embarrass him anymore."
Filimon contacted Detective Kenneth Shutter of the Warren Police Department and described the details of his conversation with Corey and Richard, as well as his review of the video file. Shutter testified that he prepared an affidavit containing the facts supplied by Filimon and Corey. A magistrate signed a warrant permitting a search of defendant's home and the seizure of his computers and computer-related equipment. During the search, the police found the satellite box and hidden camera that Corey had described, and they observed that a cable connected the camera to a laptop computer on a nightstand next to defendant's bed.
Detective Scott Blackwell, a member of a Macomb County computer crimes investigation unit, testified concerning his forensic examination of the seized computers. Blackwell ascertained that defendant's laptop computer and the laptop in the family room contained a number of password-protected video and graphic files, as well as several forms of graphic editing and "video capture" software. He deciphered defendant's password, and successfully opened a number of files containing adult pornography. Blackwell also opened files displaying sexually explicit still photograph and video images of a young girl. The images that formed the basis of the instant charges consisted of photographs or videos of the victim at ages 12 and 13. Through the use of computer editing software, the video and graphic images depicted the victim nude, undressing, in sexually explicit situations, and accompanied by sex organs.
At trial, defendant denied knowing of or using the hidden camera or the video editing software. He also denied creating any child sexually abusive material, and insisted that he was unaware of the presence of any illegal material on the home computer network. Defendant suggested that Corey possessed more advanced computer skills than he did, and recounted that he and Corey had argued bitterly several days before Corey revealed the sexual material he purportedly found on the home computer network.
Defendant first contends that insufficient probable cause supported the magistrate's decision to issue a search warrant for his home and computers. Defendant argues that because neither officer Filimon nor the magistrate watched the complete "RAC" video, including the segment in which the victim dropped her towel, Detective Shutter's affidavit did not supply probable cause. Defendant additionally asserts that because Corey's allegations regarding the complete content of the video file and the hidden camera were uncorroborated, the magistrate lacked the reliable quality of information required for issuance of a search warrant.
"[A]ppellate scrutiny of a magistrate's decision involves neither de novo review nor application of an abuse of discretion standard." People v Russo, 439 Mich 584, 603; 487 NW2d 698 (1992). Rather, this Court must afford a magistrate's probable cause determination "great deference." People v Keller, 479 Mich 467, 476-477; 739 NW2d 505 (2007) (citation omitted). "Affording deference to the magistrate's decision simply requires that reviewing courts ensure that there is a substantial basis for the magistrate's conclusion" that probable cause exists. Russo, supra at 604.
A search warrant may issue only on a showing of probable cause. People v Barr, 156 Mich App 450, 457; 402 NW2d 489 (1986), citing US Const, Am IV; Const 1963, art I, § 11. "Probable cause to issue a search warrant exists where there is a `substantial basis' for inferring a `fair probability' that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place." People v Kazmierczak, 461 Mich 411, 417-418; 605 NW2d 667 (2000), citing Russo, supra at 604. In ascertaining probable cause, the magistrate should "make a practical, common-sense decision ... given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the `veracity' and `basis of knowledge' of persons supplying hearsay information ...." Keller, supra at 475, quoting Illinois v Gates, 462 US 213, 238; 103 S Ct 2317; 76 L Ed 2d 527 (1983). The "probability" evaluation required of a magistrate need not rest on "hard certainties" or scholarly analysis, but instead should keep in mind "the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians, act." Gates, supra at 231-232 (internal quotation omitted).
We find that Detective Shutter's affidavit supplied the magistrate with a substantial basis for inferring a fair probability that defendant's home computer network contained child sexually abusive material. The affidavit related information supplied by a known informant, who had personal knowledge regarding the contents of defendant's computer and the presence of a hidden camera in a bedroom used by the young victim. Additionally, the affidavit included Officer Filimon's personal verification of a portion of the information Corey provided, by watching a computer video file reveal a young girl, wrapped only in a towel, enter a bedroom. Detective Shutter also averred in the affidavit that he had confirmed via the law enforcement information network (LEIN) that defendant previously had faced charges of criminal sexual conduct involving a minor. We conclude that the abbreviated video footage viewed by Officer Filimon, combined with Corey's consistent description of the hidden camera and the images of the victim without clothing, amply supported the magistrate's conclusion that "a fair probability" existed that "contraband or evidence of a crime" would be found in defendant's home. Keller, supra at 475; Kazmierczak, supra at 417-418.
Defendant also challenges the search warrant under MCL 780.653, which provides as follows:
The magistrate's finding of reasonable or...
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