Criminal Practice — Search & Seizure – Search Warrant – Probable Cause – Staleness – Child Exploitation

In his affidavit in support of an application for a warrant to search defendant’s residence, a police detective relied on screenshots of defendant’s Facebook posts, but the posts do not include dates and times, nor did the affidavit say when a witness provided the information to the police. It is true that an interval of two or more months between the alleged criminal activity and the affidavit has been held to be such an unreasonably long delay as to vitiate the search warrant; however, courts have expanded these time limits when the items to be seized include items with enduring utility to the defendant beyond criminal activity and the defendant is not likely to dispose of the items.

The search warrant said the items to be seized were electronic devices, including cell phones, computers, tablets, hard drive devices, USB drives, CDs, and disks; written documentation to include any handwritten notes, printed notes, photographs, or other documents; and weapons to include handguns, long guns, weapons of mass destruction, or explosives. Because the items to be seized included items with enduring utility, we conclude the information was not stale, despite the lack of date and time information.

We affirm the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to suppress.

State v. Kochetkov (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-235-21, 10 pp.) (Fred Gore, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court (Graham Shirley, J.) Tamika Henderson for the state; Michele Goldman for defendant. 2021-NCCOA-617