United States v. Thomas Houck
Opinion
Thomas Houck was indicted on one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.
See
I.
As part of his work with a Pennsylvania computer-crimes task force, Detective Gregory Wahl located a computer that was sharing child pornography on the Ares peer-to-peer network. Wahl was able to establish the IP address of the computer, which he traced to the residence of Houck's mother in Manheim, Pennsylvania. This information led another member of the task force, Detective Keith Kreider, to conduct "basic surveillance" of the property, where he observed a pickup truck and a fifth-wheel trailer-style RV in the driveway. Kreider then applied for and obtained a search warrant. The warrant application included a request to search "any vehicles ... present at the time of execution ... due to the size and portability of many of today's media storage devices." Kreider later testified that he did not specifically identify the RV in the warrant application or seek a separate warrant to search the RV based on his belief that it fell within the scope of the warrant's authorization to search "any vehicles." He further testified that, had the warrant not expressly covered vehicles, he would have applied for a second warrant to search the RV.
Officers executed the search warrant on July 2, 2015. Upon arriving at the residence, the officers saw Houck's RV and pickup truck parked in the driveway. The truck had a trailer attachment, but the RV was not connected to it. The RV itself had Missouri license plates, a valid inspection tag, and a vehicle identification number. It had fully inflated tires and no permanent attachments to the ground. However, it was connected to water and electric lines, and there was a satellite dish attached to the roof. Kreider estimated that it would have taken approximately thirty minutes to prepare the RV for travel.
*959 The officers proceeded to the door of the RV and requested that Houck and his girlfriend join them inside the residence. Kreider then read the execution portion of the warrant to the couple and Houck's mother, explaining that they were looking for computers with Ares software. Houck was the only one familiar with Ares, and he admitted to owning a laptop with the software installed on it. He further advised Kreider that his laptop was in the RV and even offered to retrieve it, but Kreider declined his proposal.
From there, the investigation proceeded on two fronts. Two detectives at the scene asked if Houck would accompany them to a nearby police station for an interview, and he agreed. Throughout the process, the detectives repeatedly advised Houck that his participation was voluntary and that he could terminate the interview at any time. He eventually admitted to downloading, viewing, and deleting numerous videos containing child pornography. Meanwhile, the officers at the residence executed the search and seized Houck's laptop, Apple iPhone 6, and Olympus XD picture card from the RV. They then conducted a forensic preview of the devices and located files that appeared to contain child pornography. A subsequent forensic examination revealed that external data-storage devices had been connected to the laptop. Because these devices were not located during the initial search, Kreider applied for a second warrant, which specifically identified Houck's RV as a location to be searched. The second search led to the seizure of two digital cameras.
After his indictment, Houck moved to suppress the evidence seized during the initial search of his RV. He also sought to suppress as fruits of the poisonous tree his statements to officers at the residence, his admissions during the stationhouse interview, and the evidence seized during the second search.
See
Wong Sun v. United States
,
II.
The Fourth Amendment protects the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV. "Ordinarily, evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment is subject to the exclusionary rule and, therefore, cannot be used in a criminal proceeding against the victim of the illegal search and seizure."
United States v. Cannon
,
On appeal, the Government renews its argument that the plain language of the warrant authorized the search of the RV, as it was a vehicle located on the premises at the time of the original search. The Government notes that an RV is a "vehicle" under the common meaning of the word.
See Vehicle
, Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014) (defining "vehicle" as "[a]n instrument of transportation or conveyance"). It also claims that Missouri, Pennsylvania, and federal statutory definitions recognize fifth-wheel trailers like Houck's RV as vehicles.
See
As an initial matter, it is not clear that the district court's determination that Houck was using the RV as a residence precluded it from finding that it was also a "vehicle" for purposes of the warrant.
See
United States v. Sturgis
,
In
Maryland v. Garrison
, the Supreme Court reviewed the exclusion of evidence seized during the search of two separate apartment units that encompassed an entire floor, where the applicable warrant authorized the search of only one of the apartments.
Garrison
's focus on reasonableness is emblematic of the Supreme Court's general approach to the Fourth Amendment. For example, in
Davis v. United States
, the Court held that "[e]vidence obtained during a search conducted in reasonable reliance on binding precedent is not subject to the exclusionary rule."
Applying these principles, we find that the officers' interpretation of the warrant was not unreasonable, even assuming it was mistaken. Although there was some evidence that the RV was being used as a temporary residence, the officers observed the following facts supporting their conclusion that it was a vehicle: (1) the RV had fully inflated tires, could have been mobile within 30 minutes, and was parked on a driveway with ready access to a roadway; (2) the truck used to tow the RV was parked next to it; (3) the RV, which was parked at a Pennsylvania residence, had Missouri license plates, had a vehicle identification number, and was registered in Missouri; and (4) the RV was not attached to the ground or permanently affixed to any structure.
1
Further, given that "vehicle" is commonly defined as "[a]n instrument of transportation or conveyance,"
see Vehicle
, Black's Law Dictionary, it was reasonable for the officers to treat it as such. Thus, under these circumstances, we conclude that it was not objectively unreasonable for the officers to believe that the RV was a vehicle within the scope of the warrant.
See
United States v. Patterson
,
*962 III.
Accordingly, we reverse the district court's grant of the motion to suppress.
We are not persuaded that the inclusion of the RV as a specific place to be searched in the second warrant disproved the officers' asserted belief that the RV was a vehicle at the time they executed the original search warrant . The initial search and accompanying interviews provided officers with new information that indicated both the existence of data-storage devices and their probable location inside the RV. Thus, it is not surprising that Kreider included these details in his second warrant application or that he focused on the RV.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Thomas Franklin HOUCK, Defendant-Appellee.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published