United States v. Cotterman
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
709 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2012)
Howard Cotterman (defendant) was flagged by a federal database as a registered sex offender with possible ties to sex tourism or child pornography while crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, prompting a secondary search that turned up two laptops and three cameras containing password-protected files but nothing immediately incriminating. Agents sent the devices to a federal lab, where a forensic search conducted over several days uncovered hundreds of child pornography images. Cotterman was indicted and moved to suppress the evidence; the district court granted the motion, a Ninth Circuit panel reversed, and Cotterman sought en banc review.
Whether the government must have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before conducting a forensic search of electronic storage devices seized at the border.