Technology v. The Fourth Amendment

Recently, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued an opinion reversing a decision by the Berks County Court of Common Pleas granting a motion to suppress evidence in a drug-trafficking case involving the use of a GPS tracking device. See Com. v. Burgos, No. 718 MDA 2012 (Pa. Super. Ct., Feb. 20, 2013).

In the fall of 2010, law enforcement agents from the Berks County Detectives (the "County Detectives") arrested eight individuals suspected of marijuana and cocaine trafficking. Two of the individuals turned confidential informants and provided the County Detectives with information about their supplier. The informants identified the defendant's picture and provided information about his activities that was corroborated by recordings obtained in separate court-ordered wiretaps. Based on the foregoing, the County Detectives obtained a warrant to place a GPS tracking device on defendant's vehicle pursuant to Section 5761 of Pennsylvania's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act (the "Wiretap Act"). See 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 5701, et seq.

The County Detectives subsequently tracked defendant to and from Georgia on a drug run. Pennsylvania State Police stopped defendant in Berks County and obtained a warrant to search the impounded vehicle, where they discovered thirty-four plastic bags of marijuana. The Commonwealth charged defendant with a number of offenses including, among other things, possession with intent to distribute.

Defendant filed his motion to suppress evidence, arguing that the County Detectives failed to obtain a warrant supported by probable cause pursuant to the Fourth Amendment. The Trial Court initially denied the motion, but reversed itself after considering a recent United States Supreme Court decision determining that the use of GPS monitoring equipment by state actors constitutes a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and, therefore, requires a warrant supported by probable cause. See United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. 945 (2012).

The Commonwealth filed an interlocutory appeal to the Superior Court, arguing that the Trial Court committed an error of law when, among other things, it found that the County Detectives failed to...