Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) is at the center of a controversy of having submitted to an FBI agent a hard drive evidencing child pornography. The drive is from a faulty computer, which belongs to Dr. Mark Rettenmaier, a California gynecologist that was under repair by Best Buy’s Geek Squad. According to the agent who is now arguing that the computer had once stored images known as the “Jenny” shots, Rettenmaier has a case to answer. In fact, the agent went as far as obtaining a search warrant for the doctor’s house to seek for more evidence.
Surprisingly, at the time of searching the physician’s computer, nobody knew that the company’s repair technicians routinely did so in search of files that would earn them as much as $500. They were literally FBI informants given that Geek Squad technician John “Trey” Westphal was behind the identification of the nude image on Rettenmaier’s computer. However, Rettenmaier who is now fighting charges of child porn possession maintains that the FBI conducted an illegal search.
But the case triggers a series of questions as to how the FBI works
Whether or not the technician found and presented vital information regarding child pornography to the FBI, the whole operation has raised more questions than solutions. For example, does the FBI have to tip technicians to seek evidence that will then be used to prosecute people? Is this kind arrangement between the FBI and computer repair services like Best Buy likely to expand in the future?
According to Rettenmaier’s San Clemente-based defense attorney, James D. Riddet, the FBI assumed a series of unfair measures in hopes of building a case. He further argues that two additional searches were carried out by the agents without obtaining necessary warrants.
Speaking to the OC Weekly, the attorney said, “FBI and Best Buy made sure that during the period from 2007 to the present, there was always at least one supervisor who was an active informant. The FBI appears to be able to access data at [Best Buy’s main repair facility] whenever they want.”
Best Buy workers are not federal agents: the U.S. government laments
Conviction of someone with child-pornography charges, the government must demonstrate that the suspect knowingly possessed the image. However, the same government has refuted claims that Best Buy workers are federal agents. Rettenmaier is currently out on bail as the case continues. Meanwhile, Best Buy’s stock closed at $42.64 a fall of $1.13 or 2.58%.
