Judge: Search of home unconstitutional

A U.S. district judge has ruled that the search of a suspected child pornographer's home was unconstitutional.

District Judge James Browning ruled that the search of Joseph Martinez's Tijeras home was unconstitutional. He stopped short of suppressing the evidence found during the search, but left open the possibility that prosecutors be barred from using photos and videos taken from the home.

In April, an emergency dispatcher received a 9-1-1 call from the home, but only heard static and the call hanging up. The dispatcher tried to return the call, but nobody answered, so Bernalillo County deputies were sent to investigate.

Nobody answered the door, so officers searched the home. Undersheriff Sal Baragiola said in October that deputies needed to find out if there was actually an emergency at the home.

Investigators said they didn't find anybody inside, but said they found drugs and dozens of photos and movies, alleged to be Martinez performing sexual acts on a boy over the span of more than 10 years.

Defense attorneys called the search illegal and said Martinez's Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure rights were violated by the search.

Martinez faces child rape and child pornography charges.A U.S. district judge has ruled that the search of a suspected child pornographer's home was unconstitutional.