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The On The Fourth Amendment

Decent Essays

The Fourth Amendment generally requires a warrant for the search and seizure of personal property, but no warrant is necessary when the owner voluntarily consents to the search or seizure. However, an owner may revoke his or her permission prior to the completion of the search, and the court admits the evidence found prior to the owner revoking consent. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has repeatedly held that the government may search a photocopy of a document after the owner revokes consent. The Eleventh Circuit has not addressed the issue of whether searching a mirror image copy of a computer hard drive may occur after the owner revokes consent. In United States v. Sharp, the Northern District Court of Georgia determined that although the searching methods for paper documents and computers differ, a government official may search a mirror image computer copy made during the scope of the owner’s consent. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND The FBI investigated Gary Sharp and others in their connection with an online site named www.applanet.net. The investigators suspected the online site of providing users access to different copyrighted media. On August 21, 2012, Agents Kabrhel and Cieplike, of the FBI, traveled to Rhode Island to search Sharp’s house. After arriving at the Rhode Island address, Sharp’s parents revealed to the FBI Agents that Sharp currently lived in an apartment in Massachusetts. During the same day, the Agents traveled to Uxbrige,

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