User:Srsaff/sandbox

Application to Technology
This question typically arises where a government agent is searching under a warrant for one crime, but finds evidence of a different crime. In United States v. Wong police were searching the defendant's computer for evidence related to a murder when they discovered child pornography on the computer. Though the warrant was specific to evidence of the murder, the Ninth Circuit held that the plain view exception allowed them to seize the child pornography, as searching graphics files was valid under the warrant and the files were immediately identifiable as contraband.

However, as with the application of this doctrine elsewhere, the plain view doctrine only justifies a seizure of the evidence or contraband that is in plain view. It does not justify a further search. In United States v. Carey a police detective was searching a computer for evidence of drug trafficking. When he opened one jpg file that turned out to contain child pornography, he proceeded to search for more images and found two hundred and forty four images of child pornography on the computer. The Tenth Circuit held that only the first image was covered by the plain view doctrine, and the rest of the images could not be used against the defendant in court.