Hines v. State

A search warrant providing probable cause to search the house, any other buildings, and vehicles located at a specific street address identified with sufficient particularity the recreational vehicle on the property that the defendant lived in.

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At a bench trial on facts stipulated to by the prosecution and the defense, Jeffrey Kyle Hines was found guilty of five counts of sexual exploitation of children in violation of OCGA § 16-12-100 b 8. Evidence showed that Hines possessed five video files located on a computer at his residence depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Police found the video files during a search of Hines’s residence pursuant to a warrant. Hines contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence of the video files because the warrant was insufficient to justify the search. We find no error and affirm.

An investigator with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation over the internet which revealed that a computer attached to a Comcast-owned internet protocol IP address located in Cherokee County was using a specific software program to share known and suspected child pornography files. After being served with a search warrant, Comcast informed the investigator that the IP address was assigned to a customer located at 547 Toonigh Road in Woodstock, Georgia. Based on a finding that there was probable cause to believe that a crime in violation of OCGA § 16-12-100 was being committed at that location, the investigator obtained a warrant to search the property. The property was described in the warrant as a house located at 547 Toonigh Road with attached garages and a single mailbox, and the warrant authorized the investigator to search the house and any vehicles and buildings located on the property for computer hardware or software containing images of children depicting sexually explicit conduct as defined in OCGA § 16-12-100, together with indicia of use, ownership, possession, or control of those items.

Hines v. State

A search warrant providing probable cause to search the house, any other buildings, and vehicles located at a specific street address identified with sufficient particularity the recreational vehicle on the property that the defendant lived in.

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