The case against a former White County Sheriff’s Office deputy could go to trial soon, nearly a year after Christopher Davis was arrested and charged with creation and possession of child pornography.

Davis, 32, was working as a deputy at the White County courthouse before he was arrested in August 2011. He has pleaded not guilty.

First, though, a federal judge will have to decide whether to allow evidence seized from Davis’ home and a recorded interview in which he appears to confess to photographing sexually explicit images of an underage girl to be used during the trial.

In a pretrial hearing at Gainesville’s federal courthouse, Davis’ attorney, Tony Axam, argued that federal agents did not provide sufficient evidence to obtain a warrant to search the defendant’s home.

Agents did get a warrant to search the defendant’s home, where they say they seized 11 different computers and storage devices containing child pornography. They also seized two cameras in Davis’ vehicle, one of which federal officials said was used to produce child pornography.

Axam also argued White County and federal agents took improper steps to obtain a recorded interview with Davis.

Senior U.S. District Judge William O’Kelley is expected to render a written decision regarding the evidence in the coming weeks.

O’Kelley offered Sept. 17 as a possible trial date.

Federal agents were tipped off about child pornography allegations against Davis after investigators from the Child Exploitation Investigations Group arrested Timothy McKeithan of Houston, Texas, on similar charges. Davis’ ex-wife, Lisa Davis, was McKeithan’s girlfriend at the time.

Lisa Davis told investigators the images of a 7-year-old girl found on McKeithan’s storage devices were produced by Christopher Davis.

After leaving Christopher Davis in the fall of 2009, Lisa Davis told authorities, she took his hard drive containing photos of her and asked McKeithan to delete those images. She then mailed the hard drive back to Christopher Davis.

On Thursday, the defense argued that Lisa Davis’ statements, made to authorities after her boyfriend’s arrest, were not sufficient probable cause for a judge to give a warrant to search the defendant’s home.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan S. Cole, who recently recommended a denial of the defense’s motion to suppress evidence, gave agents the warrant for the home search, Axam said.

“There is no a reason a judge should sign a search warrant (to search) his home,” he said. “There was not enough evidence.”

“When you break into my home with government authority, I have the Fourth Amendment,” he said. “You have to do it right.”

The U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment bars “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Axam questioned whether agents should have treated Lisa Davis as a credible witness and said that her statements against the defendant should have been corroborated before a search warrant was obtained.

U.S. prosecutor Jill Steinberg rejected Axam’s arguments.

“There are few people who would have better knowledge than Ms. Davis,” Steinberg said, because Lisa Davis lived with the defendant at the time the photos were allegedly taken.

Steinberg went on to say there was no basis to question Lisa Davis’ credibility “other than she has horrendous taste in men.”

Steinberg went on to say that evidence met the legal threshold of probable cause.

While agents were searching Christopher Davis’ home, investigators also requested an interview with him while he was on duty for the White County Sheriff’s Office, and local officials arranged the discussion.

In a recording taken after White County officials introduced Christopher Davis to federal agents, the defendant can be heard first denying that he photographed images of a 7-year-old girl that agents described as “sexually explicit.” Later in the recording, Davis can be heard saying he did take the photographs but said they were not explicit and denied “manufacturing child pornography.”

The defense has asked the judge to also suppress this recording at trial, arguing Davis felt forced to either speak to authorities or lose his job.

Axam cited the Garrity warning, which is similar to Miranda rights for law enforcement officers. Often applied to criminal investigations, the warning cautions suspects of criminal liability for statements made in an investigation and reminds them of their right to remain silent. The Garrity rule is supposed to avoid cases where law enforcement officers are forced to surrender their Fifth Amendment rights to avoid losing their job.

Before leaving Davis to talk to federal authorities, White County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bob Ingram took the defendant’s firearm. In the recording, Ingram can also be heard telling Davis, “I expect you to be completely open and truthful to them (referring to federal agents).”

Axam said the events amounted to violation of his client’s rights.

While withholding a decision, Judge O’Kelley criticized White County officials from the bench on Thursday for not advising Davis that he was not required to speak.

“Five seconds would have alleviated this issue,” O’Kelley said. “But law enforcement likes to walk the line rather than be thorough.”

The prosecution argued that while such a statement would have been thorough, it was not legally required. U.S. attorneys are asking that both evidence seized from Davis’ home and the recording be allowed for use in trial.