A man who previously ran for a seat as a commissioner in Ramsey County appeared in court last week in a child pornography case in Ramsey County. The man had previously held an administrator's job in state government, but no longer holds that position.
Prosecutors filed charges alleging 12 counts of possession of child pornography last March against the 39-year-old defendant. Now, Ramsey County officials are apparently considering filing up to 56 additional counts against the man, based upon computer forensics and a search of the man's computers.
A number of court rulings across the country have found that simply viewing an image on the Internet does not amount to possessing the image. However, when an image has been viewed, a remnant of the data may remain somewhere in the computer--even though a person may not be able to retrieve that image without a forensic type search.
The defendant in the Ramsey County case made that argument before the court recently. However, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the judge presiding in the case ruled that prosecutors in St. Paul are alleging that the man did more than view files online. Apparently, the state argues it has evidence of emails and images stored in different areas that the cache.
The judge reportedly scheduled a trial on the current 12 counts of unlawful possession of child pornography for late February. The state says that prosecutors may add additional charges based upon the search of the computers.
This blog has previously discussed issues that can arise with Internet crimes and allegations involving data stored on computers and other electronic media. Child pornography charges often involve highly complex allegations involving electronic media with today's technology. Many legal questions involving computer forensic may remain unresolved. It is important to vigorously defend on the law, as well as on the facts when facing criminal charges to advance the understanding of the law.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Ex-GOP House aide faces prospect of more child porn charges," Joy Powell, Jan. 25, 2013
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