The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the government can present photographs taken from former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline's computers, which in effect revives its child pornography case against the judge. The Court overruled US District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall who ruled the images were illegally seized because the hacker who obtained the photographs was working for the government and therefore a warrant was required.

The appeals court, however, ruled that since the police had no advance knowledge that the hacker was searching computers, they did not need a warrant. Kline has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Read the unpublished ruling by the Ninth Circuit here [PDF]. AP has more.