In February 2003, while serving as a civilian contractor, Michael D. King resided in a dormitory at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. During his stay in the dormitory, King kept his personal laptop computer in his room and connected it to the base network. All users of the base network signed agreements indicating that they understood their communications over and use of the base network were subject to monitoring.
An enlisted airman was searching the base network for music files when he came across King’s computer on the network. The airman was able to access King’s hard drive because it was a “shared” drive. The airman discovered a pornographic movie and text files “of a pornographic nature.” The airman reported his discovery to a military investigator who in turn referred the matter to a computer specialist. This specialist located King’s computer and hard drive on the base network and verified the presence of pornographic videos and explicit text files on the computer. She also discovered a folder on the hard drive labeled “pedophilia.”
Military officials seized King’s computer and also found CDs containing child pornography. Two years later, the government obtained an indictment charging King with possession of child pornography. After his arrest, the government searched his residence pursuant to a search warrant and found additional CDs and hard drives containing over images of child pornography.
King entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 108 months in prison. King then appealed his conviction on the grounds that there had been an illegal search and seizure of his computer and files. Explain whether there was a Fourth Amendment violation. [U.S. v King, 509 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir. 2007)]