00-3809 U.S. v. Lemmons

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“Lemmons accompanied the police around his trailer, inviting them to look at different things. Had Lemmons stuck to his initial consent limiting the police to search for a camera or recordings of his neighbor, the computer search would have been illegal. Had Lemmons consented to the search of the computer, but only for computer images of his neighbor, Pope’s search of the computer may also have been illegal, depending on the details of Lemmons’ labeling system and other variables. But Lemmons did not limit Pope in either manner. Rather, after (lawfully) viewing photographs raising suspicions of child pornography, Pope asked Lemmons whether there was anything he needed to be aware of on the computer. Lemmons responded by inviting him to look on the computer and then turning it on for him. There is no evidence that he limited Pope’s subsequent search of the files or protested when Pope accessed them. He instead explained to Pope that the images belonged to other people. Accordingly, Pope was not exceeding the scope of Lemmons’ consent when he uncovered pornographic images on the computer.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Hamilton, J., Evans, J.