Generally, a warrant is required for law enforcement to conduct a search of a computer or any other electronic device. The Fourth Amendment requires that the warrant (1) establishes probable cause, (2) through Oath or affirmation, (3) particularly describes what is being searched, and (4) particularity describes what is to be seized. Additionally, a warrant that is deficient or defective on particularity may invalidate the warrant in a subsequent search. Groh v. Ramirez.
In this scenario, law enforcement solely asked for a warrant to search the computer for evidence of CSAM. This search could cover a search of his photos, documents, hidden/encrypted files, browsing history, and, yes, possibly, his emails. However, I am not 100% convinced, as emails and someone’s email account can tell anyone an awful lot about that person within a small amount of time.
Nevertheless, of the three options given: (1) the tax records, (2) emails, and (3) patient records from his psychiatric practice, the emails are the only thing that might be able to be examined by police with their current warrant.
There is no reason to look for evidence of tax evasion with the current warrant, as it has nothing to do with the crime of CSAM possession. However, if officers want to look through his tax records for evidence of tax evasion, they can get another warrant (or amend the current warrant) to do so.
But, under no reasonable circumstance should officers be allowed to rifle through Maplewood’s patient records. Forget about Maplewood’s right to privacy; this is a huge invasion of his patients’ privacy, who have nothing to do with this. There is no reasonable belief that going through these files will reveal anything related to the change of possession.
While there’s no set time limit for how long officers may keep ahold of evidence, I believe, it’s best practice to only keep it for as long as necessary to search through the items covered under the warrant. For something of this magnitude, it may be helpful to bring in experts to help accelerate this process and make sure officers do not go outside the warrant’s scope.
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