Polygamy in Human Trafficking

What questions should you ask the woman to assist you with your investigations?
1. Do you have a good relationship with your husband? Are you in talking terms as of this moment?
2. Is the laptop in your possession right now? If not, where is it?
3. What is the location of your husband as of this moment? Does he know where you are right now?
4. Before you saw what you saw last night, do you, as his partner, have any reason to suspect that he has been viewing the same kind of content for a while?
What do you need legally to seize that laptop?
For one to be successfully prosecuted of the crime of child pornography, he or she must have knowingly received, distributed or possessed child pornography. So there must be intent on his or her part. In case a person, such as the complainant’s husband, just happened to have stumbled upon the content the wife allegedly caught him watching, he cannot be prosecuted and convicted for the crime of child pornography. However, in case a person is caught with hundreds or thousands of child pornography videos or images on his computer, the intent becomes pretty obvious and the prosecution of the case becomes straightforward (Bector, 2009; Milivojevic, Pickering & Segrave, 2017). For this reason, investigators usually seize computers and computer components owned by suspects to find clues and evidence as to whether they were intentionally and knowingly participating in, distributing, or consuming child pornography.
Some of the computers and computer components that are usually seized by investigators include laptops, CPUs, external data storage devices, hard disks, event logs, buddy lists, chat logs, internet browsing history, financial information, databases, emails and related attachments, image files, video files, documents, software, and hardware (Moore, 2014). So in the case of the complainant’s husband, his laptop ought to be seized to find out if there is evidence of intent on it.
Besides his laptop, connected and networked devices should also be seized or looked into to also gather evidence for prosecution. Connected/ networked devices include routers, switches, hubs, printers, and so on. The evidence that can be gathered from such devices include data, buddy lists, chat logs, event logs, log files, internet browsing history, financial information, databases, emails, attachments, image files, video files, and software. Other evidence that may also be collected from such devices includes the NIC (network interface card) address, the MAC (media access card) address, broadcast settings, IP (Internet Protocol) address, and the LAN (Local area network) address. These pieces of information are considered identifying information and can be utilized as evidence (Moore, 2014).
To acquire all or most of the above pieces of evidence, there are several methods that could be used. They include:
1. Plain view
If a laptop, a software, a hardware, or a computer is in plain view, there is no need for a warrant for it to be seized. This is the plain view exception. However, once it is seized, it cannot be searched as the plain view exception does not include the authority to search.
2. Consent
The second method to acquire evidence is to ask for consent from its owners. In this case, the complainant and her husband are joint owners of the evidence that needs to be seized. So the laptop can only be seized if both parties give their consent. However, consent cannot just be sought verbally; it needs to be obtained in writing. And the request for it should include words that directly request the seizure and subsequent forensic exam of whatever is seized by a specialist. In case a police department already has a consent from for the seizure of a computer or any electronic media and its subsequent examination by a forensic expert, it should use it. However, if it does not, it should draft a consent from in conjunction with the State Prosecutor or District Attorney for proper legal advice and guidance.
3. Search warrant
The third method that can be used to acquire the laptop in question is the use of a search warrant. Search warrants permit the searching and acquisition of evidence defined within them. Most law enforcement agencies prefer and consistently utilize search warrants to seize evidence because they are widely and readily accepted by most people and by most law courts. Search warrants need to be drafted and to include the definition of exactly what is going to be seized and subsequently forensically examined (U.S. Department of Justice, n.d).
Considering that the complainant suspects the husband of involvement in child pornography, it is best to use the search warrant. Getting consent from the husband to seize the co-owned laptop might work but if he is guilty, he could simply refuse consent and go about destroying the evidence in it and other associated electronic devices while a search warrant is sought. So the best way to acquire the laptop in this case is through seeking a search warrant in the first place. For the search warrant to be valid in court, it must:
· Clearly state the role of the laptop in the alleged crime and how it will help with investigations
· State why investigators expect to find the laptop in the location they intend to search
· State the probable cause for the search, the complainant’s statement in this case, and the evidence that the suspect owns the laptop
· Include specific search language relating to the evidence going to be seized
· Include language to the effect of where the search/ examination of any seized material will occur
· Not reveal any intellectual property, trade secrets, or information unrelated to the case
· Take into account any investigations involving clergy, publishers, spouses, attorneys, and doctors
With a search warrant that takes into account the above legal considerations, acquiring the laptop and related electronic evidence should be straightforward.
What steps would you take to seize the laptop?
Generally, digital evidence is considered to be fragile and easy to alter, destroy, or damage through poor handling, storage, or analysis. Therefore, it is important that special precautions are taken to ensure that such evidence is preserved and admissible in a court of law (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d). The procedure of gathering, securing, and subsequently transporting pieces of digital evidence must not alter the evidence in any manner. For this reason, the evidence ought to only be handled or analyzed by individuals trained to do so. Its collection, labelling, transportation, and handling must also be completely documented in a chain of custody document.
Procedure
Gathering electronic evidence should only be done in a way that not only protects but also preserves it. The digital evidence collection procedure below can help with this:
· Secure the electronic evidence as dictated by departmental guidelines. If such guidelines do not exist, use the information found in the Electronic Crime Scene Investigation guidelines.
· Note down the software and hardware configuration on the analyst’s system/
· Confirm the operation of the analyst’s system.
· Take apart the case of the laptop/ computer to be analyzed to enable access to storage components.
· Identify and document storage devices and their configurations.
· Properly disconnect the storage components to prevent the alteration or destruction of data within.
· Utilize controlled boots to retrieve configuration used by owner.
· Boot sequence to change the BIOS so as to make sure the system powers from the CD-ROM.
· Time & date.
· Perform another controlled boot test to verify the functionality of the computer and the new boot disk used.
· Make sure everything is properly connected to the CD-ROM drive and that the storage components remain without any power or data connection.
· Put the forensic disk into the CD-ROM and boot the computer from it.
· Make sure that the computer boots from it to prevent it from booting from its regular storage devices.
· Power down the computer.
· Remove the storage device on the computer and acquire information from it using the analyst’s system where possible. Make sure you configure the system you are using to ensure that the storage device is recognized and information is accessed easily.
· There are some exceptional situations in which the above step of taking out the storage component from the suspect computer may not be advisable. The situations include when
a. Network storage: It may not be wise to remove network storage since it may be later needed to acquire data. When utilizing subject computer for the purpose of acquiring electronic evidence, the storage device should be reattached to in addition to the examiner’s/ analyst’s storage device
b. Availability of equipment: In case the examiner does not own or cannot get access to the right equipment, removing the storage component may not be wise.
c. Hardware dependency: In case the hardware is old generation and cannot be read by newer generation systems, it may be unwise to remove the storage devices.
d. Laptop systems: Some laptop system drives may not be accessible or usable when removed from their original hardware systems. So it is key to check if they are readable before removing them.
e. Redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID): Removing storage disks and acquiring data from them separately may result in confusing or unusable results.
· Make sure that the examiner’s storage device is clean (forensic-wise) before using to acquire data evidence.
In general, as a law enforcement officer, one needs to use maximum caution when seizing digital evidence. Seizing such evidence improperly or poorly handling such evidence could damage or alter the evidence. In other cases, poor handling or seizing of evidence could itself constitute a crime under the 1980 Privacy Protection Act and the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Computer Crime and Intellectual Property, 2009; U.S. Department of Justice, n.d). In some cases, before seizing or accessing some digital evidence, law enforcement officers may need to seek extra legal authority. In such cases or in cases where a law enforcement officer is unsure about the law, there is a need to consult with superiors and with the prosecuting attorney. Their guidance will ensure that the officer is within the law and that they have the authority to proceed with the investigations in the manner they wish to proceed.
Additionally, poor handling electronic evidence could damage it as mentioned before. So there is a need to carefully handle the evidence found. Some of the precautions that can be taken to seize, preserve and transport electronic evidence without altering or destroying it include:
· Recognizing, identifying, securing, and seizing all the electronic evidence based on search warrant.
· Carefully documenting the scene and the exact locations where all each evidence was collected.
· Gathering, labelling, and securing the electronic/ digital evidence from destruction.
· Packing the gathered evidence, and transporting it properly to avoid damage or destruction.


References
Bector, S. (2009). Your laptop, please: The search and seizure of electronic devices at the United States border. Berkeley Tech. LJ, 24, 695.
Moore, R. (2014). Cybercrime: Investigating high-technology computer crime. Routledge.
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, (n.d). Forensic Examination of Digital Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement. National Institute of Justice.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, (n.d). Best Practices for seizing electronic evidence. United States Secrete service.
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Criminal Division, (2009). Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations. Office of Legal Education Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
Milivojevic, S., Pickering, S., & Segrave, M. (2017). Sex Trafficking and Modern Slavery: The Absence of Evidence. Routledge.