## Facts

- Federal investigators conducted an online child-exploitation investigation that generated evidence linking attempted access to child-pornography files to a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address.
- Investigators used records from an internet service provider to associate the IP address with a residential subscriber and obtained a warrant to search the residence and seize computers and related media.
- During execution of the warrant, agents seized computer equipment and obtained evidence supporting charges related to child pornography.
- The defendant moved to suppress evidence, arguing the warrant lacked probable cause and that the search and seizure violated the Fourth Amendment.
- The district court denied suppression and the defendant was convicted; he appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the search warrant was supported by probable cause based on evidence linking child-pornography activity to an IP address associated with the residence.
2. Whether any defects in the warrant application required suppression of evidence under the Fourth Amendment.
3. Whether the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied if probable cause was arguable.

## Decision

- The Third Circuit affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that the warrant application established a fair probability that evidence of child pornography would be found at the residence linked to the IP address.
- The court rejected suppression, concluding the challenged aspects of the affidavit did not negate probable cause.
- In the alternative, the court held that agents acted in objective good faith reliance on the warrant, making suppression unwarranted.

## Legal Principles

- Probable cause exists when the totality of the circumstances shows a fair probability that evidence of a crime will be found in the place to be searched.
- Evidence tying unlawful online activity to an IP address, combined with subscriber information associating that IP address with a location, can support probable cause to search that location for digital evidence.
- The exclusionary rule generally does not apply when officers reasonably rely on a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate, unless the affidavit is so lacking in indicia of probable cause, or so misleading, that reliance is objectively unreasonable.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the warrant-based search and the resulting child-pornography conviction, holding that IP-address evidence and subscriber records supported probable cause to search the residence and that, in any event, the officers’ reliance on the issued warrant fell within the good-faith exception.


United States v. Vosburgh, 602 F.3d 512 (3d Cir. 2010)