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The image represents computer code. Today 's post deals with  forensic issues in child pornography cases or sexual exploitation of a minor under Tennessee state law. Once law enforcement seizes one's computer ,the police send it for a forensic review to search it's memory and files.

What can a forensic computer investigation recover ?

• hidden files ;
• damaged or corrupted files ;
• password protected files ; some encrypted files ;
• email and web correspondence
• evidence of web browsing ;
• Internet chat data ;
• Or anything else that is present on the computer or media .

Once your computer is seized and searched what should you do if charged with a sex crime ? Hire your own expert .

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Your charged with a crime like possession of drugs or aggravated assault. You are put on probation and you think your problems are gone. Wrong. A new trend in Tennessee as it relates to probation cases is to include a condition of probation that waives your Fourth Amendment right of an illegal search and seizure. Paragraph 7 of the probation order of the Board of Probation and Parole provides as following:

I agree to a search, without a warrant, of my person, vehicle, property or place of residence by any probation/parole officer or law enforcement officer at any time.

When I first read this, I was shocked and was sure it was unconstitutional. However, the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Knights upheld a probation order search. Tennessee follows the Knights holding. The key difference in the Knights case is that the officers knew of the order. Does the probation order cure an illegal search if the officers were not aware of the order?

For now, citizens on probation in Tennessee have no Fourth Amendment protection.

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Here is a video of an execution of a search warrant.  Most search warrants do not go like this, but I thought it is a great example of a search warrant gone wrong.  Thanks to Simple Justice and Radley Balko for this educational video.

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