Question

Jones was a suspect being investigated by a joint FBI and District of Columbia drug task force. The investigators got a warrant to attach a global positioning device (GPS) to Jones’s Jeep. The warrant later expired, but the investigators went ahead and attached a magnetic GPS to the Jeep when it was parked in a public place. They used the data it collected to link Jones to a cocaine stash house. The data was admitted as evidence in his trial, and he was convicted of federal drug offenses. He challenged the conviction, arguing the use of the GPS constituted a search, and a valid warrant was needed if the evidence was to be used. Did the government need a new warrant? Explain.

Answer 1

As per law, the government needs to have a warrant to attach a GPS to a suspect's vehicle .Attaching GPS means searching the vehicle and if done without warrant , it is searching the vehicle without permission which is not allowed. In this case as the warrant obtained expired the investigators cannot attach the GPS to the jeep of Jones and they need a new warrant. This is because searching a vehicle is violation of privacy as per the constitution and hence the law states that the government needs a new warrant.