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CA11: Planting GPS on SUV did not implicate Rule 41(b)(4)

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in placement of a GPS on the exterior of his SUV, so Rule 41(b)(4) does not apply, even if it could because state officers put it there in a state investigation. United States v. Smith, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14894 (11th Cir. July 20, 2010) (unpublished): Although not applicable to a local police investigation conducted without federal involvement, see United States v. Lehder-Rivas, 955 F.2d 1510, 1522 (11th Cir. 1992), Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(b)(4) establishes the federal procedure for obtaining a warrant to install a tracking device. The 2006 Amendment Notes to the rule clarify that “if the officers intend to install or use the device in a constitutionally protected area, they must obtain judicial approval to do so...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 22, 2010 (boomark / email).