## Facts

- David Vernon Tank participated in an Internet chat room called the “Orchid Club,” whose members discussed, traded, and produced child pornography.
- Members communicated in real time using screen names; Tank used the screen name “Cessna.”
- After member Ronald Riva was arrested for child molestation, agents searched Riva’s home and computer and found thousands of child-pornographic images and saved text files of Orchid Club chats.
- Riva’s computer automatically saved chat conversations; before law enforcement focused on other members, Riva deleted nonsexual and extraneous material (including date/time data) to reduce file size.
- Agents obtained an arrest warrant for Tank and a warrant to search his home, but the warrant did not cover his car.
- Tank was arrested in his car less than a block from his house; within minutes an officer drove the car to Tank’s house, searched it, and found a Zip disk in a backpack.
- At trial, the government introduced printouts of the edited chat logs; Riva testified the printouts accurately reflected the saved files as edited.
- Tank admitted he used “Cessna,” and other participants identified “Cessna” as Tank; the jury convicted Tank on conspiracy and distribution counts and the district court imposed a Guidelines sentence.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court erred in admitting edited chat-room log printouts for lack of authentication under Federal Rule of Evidence 901.
2. Whether the warrantless search of Tank’s car and seizure of the Zip disk violated the Fourth Amendment where the home-search warrant did not cover the vehicle.
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support convictions for conspiracies involving production/receipt/distribution of child pornography and for distribution of child pornography.
4. Whether the district court correctly applied the Sentencing Guidelines.

## Decision

- Convictions affirmed; case remanded for resentencing.
- The chat-log printouts were properly authenticated and admissible.
- The vehicle search and seizure of the Zip disk did not violate the Fourth Amendment.
- The evidence was sufficient for all convictions.
- Sentencing errors required resentencing on remand.

## Legal Principles

- Under Fed. R. Evid. 901(a), authentication requires evidence sufficient for a reasonable juror to find the item is what the proponent claims; a witness with knowledge may authenticate electronic records by testifying they fairly and accurately reflect stored data.
- Editing or incompleteness in an electronic record generally affects evidentiary weight, not admissibility, when the proponent makes a prima facie showing of authenticity.
- Internal consistency of the record and corroboration linking a screen name to the defendant can support authentication of online communications.
- A warrantless search of a vehicle closely connected in time and place to a lawful arrest may be upheld under established vehicle-search doctrines, supporting seizure of physical storage media found in the vehicle.
- Sufficiency review asks whether, viewing evidence in the government’s favor, any rational juror could find the elements beyond a reasonable doubt; participation in a coordinated online group and corroborated communications can establish knowing agreement and distribution conduct.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that edited chat-room logs were admissible where a knowledgeable witness and corroborating evidence supported their authenticity, upheld the contemporaneous vehicle search that produced a Zip disk, found the trial evidence sufficient for child-pornography conspiracy and distribution convictions, and remanded solely for resentencing based on Guidelines error.


United States v. Tank, 200 F.3d 627 (9th Cir. 2000)