US v. Krueger: Police detected an IP address uploading and downloading child sexual abuse material (“CASM”) that they tracked to Krueger in January 2019. Eleven months later, in November, Virginia authorities obtained a search warrant and executed it, seizing devices that contained evidence of CSAM. In July 2022, the state case was dismissed after Krueger prevailed on a motion to suppress based on state procedural rules. In September 2022, federal investigators obtained copies of the devices (the originals still being held by the state) and executed a second search warrant. Krueger unsuccessfully moved to suppress.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of Krueger’s motion to suppress, rejecting two arguments rooted in delay in executing the warrants. First, Krueger argued that the 11-month delay in obtaining and executing the state warrant meant the evidence generating probable cause (which he agreed was there) had gone stale. Applying now long-settled precedent, the court held that CSAM evidence rarely goes “stale” and the evidence did not show that it would have been in this case (there was evidence to suggest Krueger was a “collector” based on repeated uploads/downloads). Second, Krueger argued that the federal investigators unduly delayed searching the devices, either during the years while the state case was pending or the months after the state case was dismissed. The court disagreed, holding that Krueger’s argument failed regardless of the delay because the original devices were always in state custody (the feds got copies) and Krueger never sought their return, so any delay did not interfere with his rights in the property.
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