Brooklyn child porn case almost ruined by confusion over Daylight Savings Time
Confusion over Daylight Savings Time nearly derailed a federal child porn case prosecution, after the time on two clocks incorrectly suggested the FBI raided a suspect’s Brooklyn home an hour earlier than a search warrant allowed.
It turns out an agent forgot to spring ahead and change the time on her camera, and suspect Shakeem Rankin’s mother made the same mistake with a clock on her kitchen wall, a judge determined.
FBI agents came knocking at Rankin’s East New York home on March 16, 2022, and found six cell phones with child porn photos and videos, according to court papers.
The warrant authorized the search happen for between 6 and 10 a.m., but Rankin’s lawyer contended the feds showed up an hour early.
The time discrepancy became the basis of a hearing to suppress the evidence found in Rankin’s home, but Brooklyn Federal Court Chief Judge Margo Brodie ultimately ruled that the clocks were the problem, not the search.
Rankin’s troubles started about 10 months before the search, when the FBI arrested a man in St. Louis who was accused of advertising and selling images of his 9-year-old niece.
As they worked through his client list, agents found Rankin, 28, connected with him on the Kik messaging app, according to the feds.
On the day of the search, two FBI agents questioned Rankin in his bedroom for close to an hour, and he ultimately admitted he bought child porn and resold what he downloaded to recoup his costs, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors indicted Rankin on child porn charges in January 2023.
In December, his lawyer fired back with a motion to suppress both cell phones and the confession, arguing the metadata on photos taken by one of the FBI agents suggested the raid happened a 5:05 a.m.
Rankin’s mother, who lives in the same house as her son, also contended that the agents stormed in during her morning devotionals, which she always starts promptly at 5 a.m., according to a filing by the suspect’s lawyer, Roger Archibald.
But FBI Special Agent Angela Tassone testified she didn’t change the clock on her digital camera when Daylight Savings Time started three days earlier.
A clock in the dining also showed the earlier time, but other clocks throughout the house had the correct time of day, and one picture from the agent’s camera showed that it was light outside when the agents left.
Even though that picture had a timestamp of 6:20 a.m., the sun didn’t rise that day until 7:05 a.m., the judge pointed out.
Archibald also questioned the validity of the FBI’s interview with Rankin, arguing that they kept him in their custody in his bedroom, and never gave him his Miranda warnings. Brodie noted, though, that Rankin was told several times during the early-morning interview he was free to leave and not under arrest.
Archibald did not return a call seeking comment.
