State v. Hunt

• Decision Date: 29 May 2020
• Docket Number: CR-18-0886
• Citation: 316 So.3d 271
• Parties: STATE of Alabama v. Jeffrey Dale HUNT
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

316 So.3d 271

STATE of Alabama

v.Jeffrey Dale HUNT

CR-18-0886

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 29, 2020

Certiorari Denied July 10, 2020

Alabama Supreme Court 1190713

Steve Marshall, atty. gen., and Edmund G. LaCour, Jr., and A. Barrett Bowdre, deputy attys. gen., and Kristi O. Wilkerson, asst. atty. gen., for appellant.

Leigh Anne Landis, Florence; and Ralph E. Holt of Holt, Mussleman, Morgan & Alvis, Florence, for appellee.

On Application for Rehearing

McCOOL, Judge.

This Court's opinion of March 13, 2020, is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted therefor.

The State of Alabama, pursuant to Rule 15.7, Ala. R. Crim. P., appeals a pretrial order of the Lauderdale Circuit Court that granted, in part, a motion to suppress filed by Jeffrey Dale Hunt. For the reasons set forth herein, we reverse and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

On December 27, 2016, Drew Harless, a detective with the Florence Police Department in Lauderdale County, submitted to a judge of the Lauderdale Circuit Court an affidavit in which Det. Harless sought a warrant authorizing the search of Hunt's home in Florence. In that affidavit, Det. Harless stated:

"I was contacted by Julie Fuller, an Intelligence Analyst with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), on November 30, 2016. She told me that the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce had received a cyber tip about child pornography being sent from an Internet Protocol (IP) address in Florence. She forwarded the cyber tip to me. I learned the following from the cyber tip: It originated from Yahoo! Inc. They reported to the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) on October 8, 2016, that an apparent image of child pornography had been uploaded to Yahoo messenger. Yahoo provided NCMEC with the IP address from where the image was located and the date and time of when it was uploaded. ... The cyber tip included 2 images. It also included a NCMEC report that has a line in it that reads, ‘I reviewed the uploaded file and found what appears to be CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.’ I reviewed the 2 images. One image shows a female lying on her back with her legs up and spread, exposing her vagina. It is possible that she is over the age of 17. The other image shows a different female lying on her back with her legs up and spread, exposing her vagina and anus. Her breasts are also exposed. She appears to be under the age of 17.

"ALEA had already sent a subpoena to AT&T, the internet service provider (ISP) associated with the IP address, requesting subscriber information. AT&T identified the subscriber as Jeff Hunt [and provided an address for Hunt's home]. ALEA also ... located Jeffrey Dale Hunt with [that address]. I drove past [the address,] and there was a 2008 Hyundai Accent parked in the drive way. The tag [on that automobile] was registered to Jeffrey Dale Hunt. There was also a 1999 Toyota Tacoma parked on the street in front of the address. That tag [on that automobile] was registered to Jeff Hunt."

(C. 61-62.) Relying on those facts, Det. Harless requested a warrant authorizing the search of Hunt's home for evidence of child pornography, and that same day the Lauderdale County circuit judge issued the search warrant ("the Lauderdale warrant") to Det. Harless and directed the warrant "TO ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA." (C. 66.) (Capitalization in original.)

Also on December 27, 2016, Det. Harless submitted to a judge of the Colbert District Court an affidavit setting forth the same facts Det. Harless set forth in his affidavit seeking the Lauderdale warrant. In addition to those facts, Det. Harless stated that "included in the cyber tip was information showing that" Hunt worked for Martin Supply Company ("Martin Supply"), which is located in Colbert County. (C. 70.) Det. Harless further stated:

"I drove past [Martin Supply] on December 27, 2016, and there was a black Hyundai Accent parked in front of the business. It was backed into a parking spot in front of the building so I could not see the tag, but it appeared to be the Hyundai Accent that was previously parked in the drive way at [Hunt's home].

"I am also applying for a search warrant in Lauderdale County for [Hunt's home]. I plan on executing the search warrant during business hours when Jeffrey Hunt will more than likely be at work [at Martin Supply]. At the time the search warrant is executed at [Hunt's home], I want to seize any cell phones, computer laptops, computer tablets, or other electronic devices that may be on Jeffrey Hunt's person, or in his vehicle, that could access computers he may have at his home ..., as it is possible to erase or delete data or information on one computer from another different computer in a different location.

"I therefore request a search warrant for the person of Jeffrey Dale Hunt and whichever of his vehicles that he may drive to his place of employment at [Martin Supply] ... in order to seize any electronic data storage devices, his cell phone or phones, laptop computers, tablet computers, or other electronic devices capable of connecting to the internet or computers that Jeffrey Hunt owns. Because computer files and data are sometimes password protected or encrypted and due to the extensive time involved in data recovery and analysis, I request that if electronic storage devices such as computers are seized as a result of this search warrant, that the court authorize the seizure and the removal of the devices to a laboratory environment for the forensic examination of the same by persons qualified to conduct said examination."

(C. 70.) That same day, the Colbert County district judge issued a search warrant ("the Colbert warrant") to Det. Harless and directed the warrant "TO ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA." (C. 72.) (Capitalization in original.) The Colbert warrant authorized the search of Hunt's person and any of Hunt's automobiles located at the premises of Martin Supply for "[e]lectronic data storage devices, cell phone or cell phones, laptop computers, tablet computers, and other electronic devices capable of connecting to the internet or computers owned by Hunt." (C. 72.)

On December 28, 2016, the Lauderdale and Colbert warrants were executed simultaneously by officers of the Florence Police Department. Det. Harless and another officer from the Florence Police Department executed the Colbert warrant, but no Colbert County law-enforcement officers were involved in the execution of the Colbert warrant. When Det. Harless arrived at Martin Supply's premises, he told an employee he needed to speak with Hunt, and the employee took him to Hunt's office, where Det. Harless observed Hunt "holding his cell phone in his hand" and observed Hunt's laptop computer "sitting on the ground ... in a laptop bag ... at [Hunt's] feet." (R. 49.) Det. Harless "told [Hunt] ... that [he and the other officer] were there in regards to child pornography and that [they] did have a search warrant for [Hunt's] items," but Det. Harless also "told [Hunt] he wasn't under arrest and he didn't have to speak with [Det. Harless]." (R. 78.) According to Det. Harless, he then asked Hunt if the laptop computer at Hunt's feet belonged to Hunt, and Hunt answered affirmatively and "said there was child pornography on it." (R. 81.) Det. Harless then seized Hunt's cellular telephone, Hunt's personal laptop computer, and two external data-storage devices, and Det. Harless then returned to the Florence Police Department, followed by Hunt in his own automobile. At the Florence Police Department, Det. Harless again explained that Hunt was not under arrest and was not required to speak with Det. Harless. (R. 84.) Nevertheless, according to Det. Harless, Hunt admitted that he "had sent pictures of child pornography ... to someone he'd met on the internet." (R. 85.) Subsequent searches of Hunt's laptop computer, cellular telephone, and electronic devices seized from Hunt's home unearthed multiple images of child pornography.

On May 24, 2018, a Lauderdale County grand jury indicted Hunt for 2,169 counts of production of obscene matter containing a visual depiction of a person under 17 years of age involved in obscene acts, a violation of § 13A-12-197, Ala. Code 1975, and 4,378 counts of possession of obscene matter containing a visual depiction of a person under 17 years of age involved in obscene acts, a violation of § 13A-12-192(b), Ala. Code 1975.

On May 29, 2019, Hunt filed a motion to suppress all evidence resulting from the Lauderdale County and Colbert County searches. As grounds for suppressing the evidence resulting from the Colbert County search, Hunt cited § 15-5-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, for the proposition that a search warrant may be executed only by the sheriff or any constable of the county where the search occurs. Thus, Hunt argued, because Det. Harless was not the sheriff or a constable of Colbert County, Det. Harless "did not have the authority to take any action outside the county of his police jurisdiction," i.e., Lauderdale County. (C. 15.) In addition, Hunt noted that the cyber tip indicated that the images suspected to be child pornography had been uploaded from an IP address traced to Hunt's home. Thus, Hunt argued, Det. Harless did not have probable cause to believe Hunt was in possession of child pornography at the premises of Martin Supply, Hunt's place of employment. Hunt also argued that the Colbert warrant was limited to searches of Hunt's person and automobile and therefore did not justify a search of Hunt's office. Hunt further argued that the Colbert warrant authorized Det. Harless to search for Hunt's electronic devices but did not authorize the search of those devices. Thus, Hunt argued, after Det. Harless seized Hunt's cellular telephone and laptop computer, Det. Harless was required to obtain a second warrant authorizing him to search the contents of those devices. Finally, Hunt argued: "Yahoo! and NCMEC have an agency relationship....