US appeals court: Warrants needed for GPS tracking.
Associated Press= PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police must get a warrant before using GPS to track a suspect's vehicle, a federal appeals court has ruled, throwing out a cache of evidence against three brothers charged in a wave of pharmacy burglaries and going beyond a Supreme Court ruling that left open the question of whether judges have to approve of the high-tech surveillance.
State police investigating the pharmacy burglaries were making progress in 2010 when they found tools, gloves and a ski mask in a search of suspect Harry Katzin's van.
The electrician said they were merely tools of his trade, and police let him go. But police, working with the FBI, soon put a GPS device under his bumper and closed in on the van after another burglary. They found Katzin and his two brothers inside, along with a large stash of pills, cash and other store property.
Three years later, the evidence has been tossed out after the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court called the GPS tracking an illegal search. The Katzins, who have pleaded not guilty, are free on bail.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/11049376