Mark Tyson
Member
GPS Tracking of Suspects Requires Warrant, Court Rules
09/11/2003
PAUL QUEARY, The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Police can't attach a global positioning system tracker to a suspect's vehicle without a warrant, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that evoked worries about an Orwellian Big Brother watching citizens' every move.
The court, however, refused to overturn the murder conviction of William Bradley Jackson, who unknowingly led police to the shallow grave of his 9-year-old daughter, Valiree, in 1999. Spokane County deputies had a warrant for the GPS device used in that case, although prosecutors argued they didn't need one.
"Use of GPS tracking devices is a particularly intrusive method of surveillance, making it possible to acquire an enormous amount of personal information about the citizen under circumstances where the individual is unaware that every single vehicle trip taken and the duration of every single stop may be recorded by the government," Justice Barbara Madsen wrote in the unanimous decision, raising the prospect that citizens could be tracked to "the strip club, the opera, the baseball game, the 'wrong' side of town, the family planning clinic, the labor rally."
Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Korsmo pronounced himself satisfied that Jackson's conviction had been upheld, but said the court's ruling in the case -- the first of its kind in the country -- expanded privacy rights.
"In their old cases, there was no right of privacy for what you did out in public," said Korsmo, who argued that using the GPS was the equivalent of tailing Jackson in an unmarked police car.
Madsen's opinion drew a sharp contrast between that kind of surveillance and the unblinking watchfulness of an electronic tracker.
"The devices in this case were in place for approximately two and one-half weeks," Madsen wrote. "It is unlikely that the sheriff's department could have successfully maintained uninterrupted 24-hour surveillance throughout this time by following Jackson."
The court rejected the Jackson's attorney's bid to toss out the warrant because it was based on the slimmest of premises: If he was guilty, he might return to the scene of the crime.
"The affidavit here described the place to be searched and the items to be seized with as much particularity as the circumstances permitted, and the warrants did not authorize a 'fishing expedition,' Madsen wrote.
A telephone call to Paul Wasson, Jackson's attorney, was not immediately returned Thursday. Korsmo said he doubted the case would be appealed to the federal courts because the defense's argument stems from tough privacy protections in the Washington Constitution.
Prosecutors had argued that Jackson was a likely suspect in the case, noting there was blood on a pillow, and that he laundered it. Also, the tight timeframe of his report of the girl's disappearance indicated he might return to her body to hide it more thoroughly.
Jackson reported his daughter missing the day she died. He was arrested nearly a month later after investigators used the GPS system to map his routes to the burial site.
He denied killing her, but acknowledged burying her in a remote spot outside Spokane and later digging her up and reburying her 50 miles away in rural Stevens County. He said he panicked after finding her lifeless body in her bed.
His lawyers contended the girl died from an overdose of a prescription anti-depressant.
Prosecutors contend Jackson smothered Valiree with a pillow because she didn't get along with a woman he wanted to marry. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 56 years in prison
09/11/2003
PAUL QUEARY, The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Police can't attach a global positioning system tracker to a suspect's vehicle without a warrant, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that evoked worries about an Orwellian Big Brother watching citizens' every move.
The court, however, refused to overturn the murder conviction of William Bradley Jackson, who unknowingly led police to the shallow grave of his 9-year-old daughter, Valiree, in 1999. Spokane County deputies had a warrant for the GPS device used in that case, although prosecutors argued they didn't need one.
"Use of GPS tracking devices is a particularly intrusive method of surveillance, making it possible to acquire an enormous amount of personal information about the citizen under circumstances where the individual is unaware that every single vehicle trip taken and the duration of every single stop may be recorded by the government," Justice Barbara Madsen wrote in the unanimous decision, raising the prospect that citizens could be tracked to "the strip club, the opera, the baseball game, the 'wrong' side of town, the family planning clinic, the labor rally."
Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Korsmo pronounced himself satisfied that Jackson's conviction had been upheld, but said the court's ruling in the case -- the first of its kind in the country -- expanded privacy rights.
"In their old cases, there was no right of privacy for what you did out in public," said Korsmo, who argued that using the GPS was the equivalent of tailing Jackson in an unmarked police car.
Madsen's opinion drew a sharp contrast between that kind of surveillance and the unblinking watchfulness of an electronic tracker.
"The devices in this case were in place for approximately two and one-half weeks," Madsen wrote. "It is unlikely that the sheriff's department could have successfully maintained uninterrupted 24-hour surveillance throughout this time by following Jackson."
The court rejected the Jackson's attorney's bid to toss out the warrant because it was based on the slimmest of premises: If he was guilty, he might return to the scene of the crime.
"The affidavit here described the place to be searched and the items to be seized with as much particularity as the circumstances permitted, and the warrants did not authorize a 'fishing expedition,' Madsen wrote.
A telephone call to Paul Wasson, Jackson's attorney, was not immediately returned Thursday. Korsmo said he doubted the case would be appealed to the federal courts because the defense's argument stems from tough privacy protections in the Washington Constitution.
Prosecutors had argued that Jackson was a likely suspect in the case, noting there was blood on a pillow, and that he laundered it. Also, the tight timeframe of his report of the girl's disappearance indicated he might return to her body to hide it more thoroughly.
Jackson reported his daughter missing the day she died. He was arrested nearly a month later after investigators used the GPS system to map his routes to the burial site.
He denied killing her, but acknowledged burying her in a remote spot outside Spokane and later digging her up and reburying her 50 miles away in rural Stevens County. He said he panicked after finding her lifeless body in her bed.
His lawyers contended the girl died from an overdose of a prescription anti-depressant.
Prosecutors contend Jackson smothered Valiree with a pillow because she didn't get along with a woman he wanted to marry. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 56 years in prison
