| United States v. Kirschner | |
|---|---|
| Court | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan |
| Full case name | United States of America v. Thomos J. Kirschner |
| Citation | 823 F. Supp. 2d 665 (E.D. Mich. 2010) |
| Holding | |
| Requiring a defendant to divulge the password to an encrypted file in response to a grand jury subpoena would violate his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Paul D. Borman |
| Keywords | |
| encryption, self-incrimination | |
United States v. Kirschner, 823 F. Supp. 2d 665 (E.D. Mich. 2010), was a federal criminal case in Michigan. The defendant had previously been indicted by a grand jury under three counts of receipt of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A). The government sought to use a grand jury subpoena post-indictment to acquire additional evidence: the contents of an encrypted file from the defendant's hard drive.
Decision of the United States District Court
On March 30, 2010, Judge Paul D. Borman held that compelling Kirschner to divulge the password to the encrypted file would require "producing specific testimony asserting a fact" in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
See also
- In re
- Key disclosure law
- United States v. Hubbell, 530 U.S. 27 (2000)
- In re Boucher
- United States v. Fricosu
References
- United States v. Kirschner, 823 F. Supp. 2d 665 (E.D. Mich. 2010).
- 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A).
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 2013-01-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - U.S. v. Fricosu
External links
- Text of United States v. Kirschner, 823 F. Supp. 2d 665 (E.D. Mich. 2010) is available from: Google Scholar Leagle FindACase