FARGO (KFGO) – A magistrate judge has recommended that a motion to throw out key evidence by a man accused of possession and distribution of child pornography be denied.
Judge Alice Senechal filed her sealed recommendation on the motion at the end of June. A redacted version of the order was unsealed last week in the federal docket. In a 45-page report, Senechal found that the warrant obtained by Grand Forks police investigating Nicholas Morgan-Derosier for construction fraud was “sufficiently particular, not overbroad, and executed in a reasonable manner.” Senechal added that even if Judge Peter Welte, the presiding district judge in the case, finds that the warrant was overbroad, the court should not suppress the evidence because the police relied on the warrant in good faith.
Grand Forks police began investigating Morgan-Derosier’s landscaping company Team Lawn in August 2020 for construction fraud. They found of thousands of images and videos of child pornography on Morgan-Derosier’s electronic devices on September 15, 2020 while serving the warrant in the fraud case.
A detective who assisted in the service of the warrant testified that she had investigated of a previous cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children connected with Morgan-Derosier’s address.
Morgan-Derosier claimed in his motion that the warrant issued by the state court was invalid because it was overbroad. He also claimed his 4th Amendment rights were violated when the searches of his home and electronic devices went outside the warrant’s scope.
The government argued at a hearing on the motion in early May that the warrant gave investigators the authority to search Morgan-Derosier’s property for anything related to his business, including photos, and that investigators immediately stopped their search when they found explicit material and obtained a new warrant.
Morgan-Derosier’s case has been the subject of additional scrutiny after it was revealed last April that he was communicating by text from prison with Ray Holmberg, who was North Dakota’s longest-serving state Senator – and one of its most powerful – at the time. The alleged connection with Morgan-Derosier led to Holmberg’s resignation from office. Holmberg’s home in Grand Forks was also searched by federal agents last year, but it was unclear if the search was related to Morgan-Derosier’s case.
Morgan-Derosier’s attorneys have until Wednesday to file an objection to Senechal’s report. Welte will take the recommendation under consideration and make a final ruling on the motion. Morgan-Derosier’s trial is scheduled to begin on August 1.
