Ensley v. State

The defendant lacked standing to challenge the acquisition of information from his internet service provider that linked an IP address to him, since a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in information voluntarily conveyed to another.

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Richard Michael Ensley appeals from his convictions on multiple counts of sexual exploitation of children OCGA § 16-12-100 b in connection with child pornography found on his home computer. He argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress information about his name and address obtained from his internet service provider, Comcast Cable Communications Holdings, Inc. Because Ensley lacked standing to challenge the acquisition of this subscriber information from Comcast, we affirm.

“On reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, evidence is construed most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment and the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous.” Wright v. State, 294 Ga. 798, 801 2 756 SE2d 513 2014 citation and punctuation omitted. So viewed, the evidence shows that a detective in the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department obtained from the magistrate court of that county a search warrant directing Comcast to provide subscriber information for a particular IP address. The detective sent a facsimile of the warrant to Comcast’s legal department in New Jersey, and several days later Comcast provided information that linked the IP address to Ensley. The detective then obtained a warrant to search Ensley’s residence. In the ensuing search of the residence, law enforcement officers seized computers, storage devices, and other electronic devices containing child pornography.

Ensley v. State

The defendant lacked standing to challenge the acquisition of information from his internet service provider that linked an IP address to him, since a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in information voluntarily conveyed to another.

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