Don't Cache out Your Case: Prosecuting Child Pornograpy Possession Laws Based on Images Located in Temporary Internet Files

This Article explores issues surrounding the prosecution of child pornography possession laws based on images located in temporary Internet files. The Article begins with a technical background of both caches and the forensic examinations used by investigators. After reviewing the pertinent case law, the Article introduces the two conceptual approaches-the Present Possession approach and the Evidence Of approach-and discusses how conceptual choices affect the analysis of knowing possession. Using the two conceptual approaches as a guide, the Article then reevaluates the various factors courts have considered, and the various defenses defendants have forwarded, when faced with a possession case based upon cached images. For courts, that reevaluation suggests that the approach to which they have defaulted may not be the most technologically accurate. For prosecutors, the reevaluation suggests that their choice of conceptual approach could have serious effects on their case strategy as well as on how best to serve the punitive and penological goals of child pornography possession laws.