United States v. Aaron Holmes, Jr.

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 22-10266

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:21-cr-00192- v. SMB-

AARON GORDON HOLMES, Jr., AKA Aaron Gordon Holmes, OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Susan M. Brnovich, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 5, 2023 San Francisco, California

Filed November 13, 2024

Before: Daniel P. Collins, Danielle J. Forrest, and Jennifer Sung, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Forrest; Dissent by Judge Collins SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

Holding: The panel reversed the district court’s denial of Aaron Holmes’s motion to suppress statements he made to law enforcement and images found on his cellphone, and remanded for further proceedings, in a case concerning a child-pornography investigation of two CyberTipline Reports that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Investigating one of the tips, Special Agent Emily Steele…