South Carolina Criminal Lawyer Blog

The United States Court of Appeals has issued a decision in regards to U.S. v. Marques Drakeford Bynum. Bynum initially was indicted for the transportation and possession of child pornography in September of 2006. A jury found him guilty on all counts and he was later sentenced to a term of 192 months in prison. Bynum filed a notice of appeal and oral arguments were held on March 25, 2010. Prior to the issuance the opinion, Bynum argued that his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated because the Government used secret administrative subpoenas to obtain his information. During their investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued several subpoenas to different companies associated with Bynum's IP address. Eventually, investigators were provided with his name, telephone number and address. The Court found that Bynum assumed the risks when he gave his information to these companies and also knew that they could possibly be accessed by the police. Further, the Court reasoned that subscriber information is not protected under the Fourth Amendment, so Bynum's argument would have been invalid regardless of his findings.

Bynum also argued that the Government did not provide sufficient evidence proving that he rather than some other person had downloaded the child pornography. The Court stated that there were several factors linking him to the alleged incident making it improbable that the pornography had been accessed by someone else. He further asserted that his 192-month sentence was unreasonable as it was harsh in comparison to individuals under a similar criminal history category. However, the Court determined the Bynum did not demonstrate this excessiveness in relation to other individuals in the same criminal history category and offense level. Thus, the Court found that none of his arguments constituted an error within the district court and subsequently affirmed the judgment.

In the instance case, the Court had to determine applicable law that relates to a more recent evolution, the ability to attain child pornography images online. In many circumstances, the content may have been acquired by the actions of another, not necessarily the owner of the computer and/or IP address. These are the type of issues that may be difficult to prove in court, which is why it is vital to seek the advice of a knowledgeable federal defense attorney that has dealt with issues of this caliber. Child pornography accusations can result in a significant amount of prison time. Our South Carolina attorneys are skilled in criminal defense and also have reliable investigators that are experienced in FBI and law enforcement investigations which will help in the defense of your case.