A Brooklyn Judge, Justice Martin P. Murphy, has Ruled that the Police need an Eavesdropping Warrant to Covertly Track the Cellphones of Criminal suspects, raising the Bar in New York for the use of a Surveillance Device that is facing Challenges across the United States.
Justice Murphy said the New York Police Department had improperly homed in on an attempted Murder suspect last year by Intercepting the Suspect's Cellphone signals without a Warrant based on Probable Cause that he Committed a Crime.
CLICK HERE to read People v Gordon in Supreme Court, Kings County, Ruling.
The Police Department denied it had Tracked the Suspect that way and disputed the Judge's reasoning, saying that an Eavesdropping Warrant is only needed to Capture the Content of Calls or Messages and that the Department's Tracking Devices do Not Allow them to Record that Information. But the Device has that Ability, so was it Turned On?
The Ruling, made earlier this month and published this week, could Complicate an untold number of Ongoing Investigations in New York that relied on this Tracking Device, and adds to the mounting Pushback from Judges and Elected Officials against its unfettered use.
The StingRay, which is the size of a suitcase, essentially tricks nearby cellphones by acting like a cellphone tower and intercepting a phone’s signal. The devices can capture texts, calls, emails and other data. Credit: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, via Associated Press.
Two months ago, a Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., Overturned a Sexual Assault Suspect’s Conviction on the Basis that the Government Violated Fourth Amendment protections against Unreasonable Searches when it used the device, known as a Cell-Site Simulator, without a Probable-Cause Warrant. And last year a Federal Judge in Manhattan threw out Drug Evidence discovered with the help of a Cell-Site Simulator. “Absent a search warrant,” the judge wrote, “the government may not turn a citizen’s cellphone into a tracking device.”
Many questions still surround the use of the devices in New York. The Police Department, like other Police Agencies, signed a Nondisclosure Agreement with the Harris Corporation, which makes many of the Devices, agreeing not to Divulge any Details about the Devices. It is still not clear what are the Capabilities of the Cell-Site Simulators in New York, how the Devices were Paid For, and who is Trained to use them.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said it was considering its Options.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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