D.Minn.: IP address used in P2P internet CP downloads linked to def’s one-family address was PC for SW for the computers in that house

IP address used in P2P internet child pornography downloads linked to defendant’s one-family address was probable cause for a search warrant for the computers in that house. United States v. Wylie, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113669 (D.Minn. July 18, 2016), adopted 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112900 (D. Minn. Aug. 23, 2016):

DS Butenhoff’s affidavit in support of the warrant application refers to SA Smith’s peer-to-peer internet investigation in which SA Smith, on multiple yet separate occasions, was able to download movie files containing what readily appeared to be child pornography from a computer associated with IP address 24.11.236.180, which SA Smith was able to independently confirm was registered, at the time, under the name A.H. at 405 South 9th Street, Apt. A, in Breckenridge, Minnesota. DS Butenhoff later further verified that 405 South 9th Street, Apt. A, in Breckenridge, Minnesota, was registered with the Breckenridge Public Utilities Department as belonging to A.H. attention Justin Wylie.

In this circuit, when determining whether probable cause exists to search a computer at a specific location, an IP address associated with a specific location at the time illegal internet activity associated with that IP address occurs has been found to be a sufficient basis to find a nexus between that unlawful use of the internet and the computer assigned that IP address. See e.g., United States v. Stults, 575 F.3d 834, 844 (8th Cir. 2009) (affirming finding of probable cause where affidavit in support of search warrant application referred to IP address that had been used to access child pornography sites was traced to a defendant); see also e.g., United States v. Freeman, No. 10-cr-68 (JRT/RLE), 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115074, 2010 WL 4386897, at *11 (D. Minn. May 13, 2010) (finding nexus between child pornography and a computer at a physical address based on an email account, an IP address, and the home address to which the IP address was assigned), adopted by 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114911, 2010 WL 4386874 (D. Minn. Oct. 28, 2010).

Accordingly, under Eighth Circuit case law, the reference to SA Smith’s peer-to-peer downloading of files containing images of child pornography from the host computer associated with IP address 24.11.236.180 at the time that the IP address was associated with 405 South 9th Street, Apt. A, in Breckenridge, Minnesota, was a substantial basis on which the District Court Judge, Eighth Judicial District, State of Minnesota, County of Wilkin, could find that probable cause existed to search 405 South 9th Street, Apt. A, in Breckenridge, Minnesota, for child pornography.