GPS Tracker Okay Even if Outside Warrant’s Geographic Limits

Information from a GPS tracker attached outside the geographic limits set by a warrant is admissible evidence

United States v. Faulkner, 2016 BL 204488, 8th Cir., No. 15-2286, 6/27/16.

   The Eight Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling to not suppress information gathered from a GPS tracking device used in an investigation. The GPS was used after the police obtained a warrant, but was applied outside the geographical limits set by the magistrate. It did, however, meet the other specifications of the warrant.

   The defendant argued that under Jones v. United States, a GPS tracking device that is used outside the geographic range of the warrant makes any gathered evidence inadmissible. The circuit court, in response, interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision as only the incorporation of GPS tracking devices into the Fourth Amendment’s limits on searches, not necessarily setting the parameters of warrants for such devices. The court went further, saying “[T]he technical deficiency that the warrant specified a certain county for placement of the GPS device when it was actually placed in a neighboring county….is not a Fourth Amendment violation under these circumstances.” Moreover, the court found that Jones and “its application is of limited value for [the defendant].”

https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/United_States_v_Faulkner_No_152252_2016_BL_204488_8th_Cir_June_27?1467834940