Actress Ashley Judd has filed a police report accusing her sister Wynonna of placing a GPS tracking device on her silver Mini Cooper. What information Wynonna was trying to gather remains unclear, although in a document filed with the Franklin Police Department in Tennessee, Ashley suspected it had to do with an “ongoing custody battle” in the family.
Reportedly, Ashley went to police after an unidentified female driver of the Mini Cooper became suspicious and took the car to a mechanic who located the GPS tracking device on the automobile.
Police determined the tracking device was registered to Janice Diane Swafford-Holt, a private investigator in Nashville, who worked with Wynonna during her marriage to Arch Kelley. Ashley alleges Wynonna gave Kelley the tracking device and he placed it on the automobile. Kelley, however, denies any involvement.
Adam Dread, a Tennessee-based attorney, says, “This issue falls under Tennessee Code Annotated 39-13-606, covering Invasion of Privacy by Electronic Monitoring of a Motor Vehicle. It is considered a criminal act in Tennessee for a person to install or conceal an electronic monitoring device on a vehicle belonging to another without the owner’s permission.” He goes on to explain consequences can include a fine in addition to jail time, and the person tracked can sue for invasion of privacy. There are some exceptions, like a parent putting a GPS device on their car to track their child. There is some speculation that Kelley and Wynonna’s teenage daughter was the female driver of Ashley’s car. However, the parent must be the owner of the car for the GPS tracking device not to be considered an invasion of privacy.
As of right now, the case is “inactive” and reps from the Franklin Police Department as well as the two sisters have not responded to requests for comment.