United States v. Merrell

Defendant appealed her sentence and conviction for two counts of producing child pornography. The court rejected defendant's argument that the district court erred by denying her motion to suppress 47 photographs of her hands, and concluded that the manner in which the officers carried out the search here did not exceed the scope of the warrant. In this case, the warrant specified that law enforcement could search defendant's person, specifically body views and photography of her hands. Furthermore, the court concluded that the photography process did not exceed the bounds of reasonableness required by the Fourth Amendment, and her due process rights were not violated. The court also concluded that any error in failing to exclude an agent's testimony was harmless where substantial evidence other than the testimony supported the jury's verdict. The court rejected defendant's claims of error relating to the exclusion of the videotaped interview of the minor where any probative value was substantially outweighed by the videotape's potential to confuse the issues. The court further concluded that the district court did not err with respect to the jury instruction on lascivious exhibition. Finally, the district court committed no procedural sentencing error and adequately considered the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors. Accordingly, the court affirmed the sentence. View "United States v. Merrell" on Justia Law