Payton

BACKGROUND

In 2004, a California Superior Court judge issued a search warrant for a house in Merced County where Payton resided. UNITED STATES v. PAYTON 9371 Police believed that the occupants were selling drugs. The warrant directed officers to search for any item listed in “At- tachment A,” which included methamphetamine and materials used to cut and package it. Attachment A also included, among other things, “[s]ales ledgers showing narcotics trans- actions such as pay/owe sheets” and “[f]inancial records of the person(s) in control of the residence or premises, bank accounts, loan applications, [and] income and expense records.” The warrant did not explicitly authorize the search of computers.

During the execution of the search, the officers found no evidence of drug sales. Officer Horn found a computer in Payton’s bedroom with the screen saver activated. He moved the mouse, which removed the screen saver, and clicked open a file. It disclosed an image that he thought was child pornog- raphy. This and images like it eventually led to Payton’s charge for possession of child pornography. Payton moved to suppress the evidence, challenging the search on the two…