NY Court Says Police Can't Track Suspect With GPS

SoundGuyNoise sends in a story that brings into relief just how unsettled is the question of whether police can use GPS to track suspects without a warrant. Just a couple of days ago a Wisconsin appeals court ruled that such tracking is OK; and today an appeals court in New York reached the opposite conclusion. "It was wrong for a police investigator to slap a GPS tracking device under a defendant's van to track his movements, the state's top court ruled today. A sharply divided NY Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 decision, reversed the burglary conviction of defendant Scott Weaver, 41, of Watervliet. Four years ago, State Police tracked Weaver over 65 days in connection with the burglary investigation."

Comments

Re:Headline is inaccurate

[gravesb]

No, that's not true. If someone gets evidence, and then submits it to the police--or the police discover it while investigating the PI--it's probably coming in. I am not aware of evidence being excluded as a remedy for a private civil violation. Maybe some states have laws that work in that way, but it isn't the way the federal system works. If your buddy steals your drugs and turns them over to the cops without pre-arrangement with the cops, the drugs are probably coming in. In fact, I think there is case law out there in the context of hacking-someone can hack your computer and then turn the evidence over to the police. Yes, you can sue the hacker for the crime, but the evidence he found is likely coming in to convict you.