Daniel Eugene Cookson v. United States
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure JusticiabilityDoctri
When a warrant authorizes a search beyond the issuing judge's territorial jurisdiction, does the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule apply to save the illegal and unconstitutional search?
QUESTION PRESENTED This case involves a warrant issued by a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Virginia authorizing the government to install malware on computers associated with a child pornography website (Playpen). The number, identity, and location of these computers was unknown to law enforcement. Thus, the government used this warrant to search computers in locations well beyond Virginia (here, Kansas). Consistent with other lower courts, the Tenth Circuit assumed that this warrant violated the Federal Magistrates Act (28 U.S.C. § 636), Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(b), and the Fourth Amendment. But the Tenth Circuit refused to suppress evidence under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule. The question presented is: When a warrant authorizes a search beyond the issuing judge’s territorial jurisdiction, does the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule apply to save the illegal and unconstitutional search. i