United States v. Max Budziak

Max Budziak appeals his jury conviction on two counts of distributing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252 (a)(2)(A) and 2252(b)(1), and one count of possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252 (a)(4)(B) and 2252(b)(2). Budziak contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to convict him of distribution. He also asserts that the district court incorrectly instructed the jury on the definition of distribution, erroneously denied his motion for a new trial, and improperly denied him discovery on software that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) used in its investigation into his online file-sharing activities. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We hold that the district court erred in denying Budziak’s discovery requests, but deny the remainder of Budziak’s challenges to his conviction.

I.

On June 6, 2007, FBI Special Agent Stacie Lane downloaded several images containing child pornography from an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address registered to Max Budziak. On June 14, 2007, FBI Special Agent Richard Whisman conducted a search for child pornography on an online file-sharing network that led him to…