Sufficiency of Evidence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America

Case No.: 17-1145

Officials: RIPPLE, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

In the summer of 2014, investigators in the Kane County Sheriff’s Office discovered that an IP address was using specialized peer-to-peer software to share child pornography over the internet. They gave this information to special agents in the Department of Homeland Security, who in turn identified Bruce Niggemann as the owner of the IP address. The agents obtained and executed a search warrant at Niggemann’s home in West Dundee, Illinois, seizing a laptop and a desktop computer. Both contained child pornography.

Niggemann’s main argument on appeal is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. He maintains that the government did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he— rather than his wife—committed the crimes. He also argues that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment.  We affirm. Abundant forensic and other evidence links Niggemann to the child pornography. The Eighth Amendment claim is squarely foreclosed by United States v. Gross, 437 F.3d 691 (7th Cir. 2006).

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.