A federal judge denied and granted parts of a motion to suppress evidence in a Lowndes County man”s federal child pornography trial.
Robert Warren Triplett, 56, of 181 Golding Road was arrested in October on charges of activities regarding materials constituting or containing child pornography.
Triplett — who faces his first of two trials for possession of child pornography Tuesday in Lowndes County Circuit Court — was arrested after investigators found explicit photos of minor children on a computer obtained from his home, during an investigation into the disappearance of his stepdaughter, Kaila Morris.
Morris, 21, has been missing since Sept. 17, when she last was seen by Triplett, who said she left the home he shared with her mother, Bonnie Morris Triplett, in a dark-colored van or sport utility vehicle, with an unknown person or persons.
Morris” mother was vacationing in Florida at the time and urged Triplett to report her missing.
In a July hearing in federal court in Oxford, Triplett”s attorney, Robert Laher, argued investigators did not specify computers in an initial warrant to search Triplett”s home.
But, in an order filed Aug. 20, Chief Justice Michael Mills ruled, “an officer executing this warrant could understand within reasonable certainty the meaning of ”electronic memory device” to include “computer equipment,” according to court documents.
The judge also ruled testimony Morris had used at least one computer in the home the night before her disappearance gave investigators “probable cause” to issue a search warrant for the computers and Triplett”s motion to suppress images obtained from his computer was denied.
A motion to suppress Triplett”s Oct. 3 “confession” to officers regarding pornographic images also was denied, but the judge granted Triplett”s motion to suppress his Oct. 5 statements made to his wife, while he was in custody in the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
Mills denied Triplett”s motion to suppress statements made to his son, Trey Triplett, on the same day.
On the state charges for which Triplett will face trial Tuesday, he could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison; a federal conviction could mean an additional 10 years.
Triplett”s federal trial is scheduled to begin in Oxford Aug. 30.
He has not been identified as a suspect in Morris” disappearance, but was investigated by the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office.
Triplett, who has past arrests for sex crimes in Mississippi and Louisiana, was on non-adjudicated probation from 2003 charges of attempted sexual battery in Jackson County; the charges were reduced to aggravated assault.
His probation was revoked in April and he now is serving a 10-year sentence at the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The search for Morris is ongoing.
Anyone with information on Morris” whereabouts should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151, 911 or the LCSO at 662-328-6788.
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