OMG, I hope this case holds up!
Case against ex-CIA officer accused of abusing women may collapse because of how federal agents searched his phones
A federal judge will hear arguments Thursday about whether hundreds of photos of the defendant allegedly abusing incapacitated women should be thrown out.
By Ken Dilanian
The prosecution’s case against a former CIA officer accused of sexually abusing more than 20 incapacitated women in Mexico City is at risk of collapsing because the Justice and State departments may have botched the execution of a warrant to seize the officer’s iPhones, court records show.
A federal judge is set to hear arguments Thursday about whether nearly 600 photos of the defendant allegedly abusing incapacitated women should be thrown out, in a dispute that could make new law on the question of what constitutes an improper search in the digital age.
The former CIA officer, Brian Jeffrey Raymond, has been held without bail in a Washington, D.C., jail for nearly three years. He made a deal to plead guilty to two counts of sexual abuse in July 2021, admitting in court to preying upon women he met in and outside the U.S. through dating sites even as he carried out his clandestine duties.
But the one-time spy withdrew his plea last year after members of his legal team realized there were significant problems with how the evidence in the case was obtained. In allowing Raymond to change his plea, the federal judge ruled that one of his former defense lawyers had been ineffective in noting major concerns about the manner in which investigators gained access to Raymond’s iPhones. The judge ruled that law enforcement agents may have violated Raymond’s rights under the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable search and seizure, and under the Fifth, which says a person can’t be forced to testify against himself.
That same judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, is now set to decide whether to grant the defense’s motion to suppress nearly all the evidence in the case. If she does that, it could seriously undermine the charges against a man Kollar-Kotelly described as “a sexual predator with the means and motive to seek out unsuspecting women on dating applications, drug them, abuse them, and leave them without the memory or wherewithal to report his deviant schemes to law enforcement.”
In ruling to deny Raymond bond, Kollar-Kotelly concluded that “the video and photographic exhibits” show that the “defendant has violently enacted a fetish for unconscious women by drugging and sexually assaulting scores of women over the course of several years.” That evidence included Raymond’s interactions with hundreds of women on dating sites, photos of a sexually aroused Raymond manipulating the bodies of unconscious women, interviews with victims, and evidence that he repeatedly searched the internet using terms including “passed out girl,” “ambien and alcohol and pass out,” and “deep sleep.”
As part of his agreement to plead guilty to two charges, the FBI said, “Raymond admitted to having sexual intercourse with two of the women depicted when both were unable to appraise the nature of the conduct.” In the plea agreement, the FBI said, “He also admitted that over the course of 14 years, he recorded and/or photographed unconscious and nude or partially nude women and touched their breasts, buttocks, and/or genitalia while they were incapable of consent.”
His defense lawyers have now withdrawn that admission and dispute all charges against him (with the plea voided, he could face up to 25 counts). His attorneys also contend that all of the electronic evidence should be thrown out. They say the photos of women found on the phone were used to establish the probable cause that led to the seizure of almost all of the other key evidence in the case from Raymond’s iCloud account, his laptop and other devices.
“Mr. Raymond requests the Court to do what it must in this case — to suppress all evidence that is fruit of the poisonous tree,” defense lawyers wrote in a recent brief.
The judge agreed in a ruling that “there are viable concerns regarding the manner in which the warrant was executed” and “troubling” actions by law enforcement agents stemming from their “admitted technological ineptitude” and their failure to plan. Now she will have to decide whether those concerns amounted to impermissible constitutional violations.
more:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ex-cia-officer-accused-abusing-women-feds-searched-phones-rcna86857?
Do something positive.
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