VA- Should The Police Be Allowed To Attach A GPS Tracking Device To Your Car Without A Warrant ?

3-13-2008 Virginia:

The Liberty Papers blog has quite an indepth discussion on this question, here are the facts of the case:

When Fairfax County police were trying to catch a man last month who had molested 11 women, they examined the Virginia sex offender registry and found a possible suspect. They looked at his background, which included a series of similar assaults, and his residence, which was not far from where the attacks were occurring.

Then, to try to catch him in the act, police slipped a small Global Positioning System device inside the bumper of the van driven by the suspect and began tracking him — without a search warrant and without consulting a prosecutor.

The tactic, officers say, was an almost instant success. The GPS device placed the van driven by David L. Foltz Jr., 40, in the vicinity of a sexual assault Feb. 5. And when officers began surveilling Foltz the next day, a Fairfax detective saw him drag a woman into a dark area in Falls Church and attack her. The officer rescued the woman and arrested Foltz.

Foltz’s attorney, Chris Leibig, said yesterday in Falls Church General District Court that placing the tracking device on the vehicle was a violation of Foltz’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Arlington County General District Court Judge Richard J. McCue disagreed, denying Leibig’s motion to suppress police testimony about events that occurred after the device was placed on Foltz’s van.

In the preliminary hearing that followed, a 46-year-old Falls Church woman testified that she was grabbed from behind and pulled into a dark area. Detective Matthew Charron said he saw the attack and knocked Foltz off the woman. McCue certified Foltz’s charges of abduction with intent to defile and sexual battery for the Arlington grand jury, which meets next week.

Foltz has not been charged in any of the 11 other similar assaults that have occurred in Fairfax and Alexandria, but police said no similar attacks have happened since he was arrested.

CLICK for the rest of the discussion. This is clearly worth the time to review if the 4th amendment interests you.