A Supreme Court decision limiting GPS tracking for law enforcement could stall a controversial arson case.
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled last month that police can’t install a GPS tracking system on a suspect’s vehicle without first obtaining a court-ordered warrant. Now this decision is being used to support a man accused of arson in Butte County, CA, according to KRCR-TV.
In Butte County, Jairo Perkins-Grubbs is being charged with arson for a series of fires. He faces 20 felony counts for his alleged role in about 20 suspicious fires set on the upper ridge starting in late July and ending Oct. 3.
He and his attorney said he will use the Supreme Court’s decision to help him challenge evidence obtained against him by a GPS tracking device. Investigators didn’t have a warrant for a GPS tracking device they used to monitor Perkins-Grubbs last summer.
Prosecutors say they’re not sure yet what the Supreme Court’s GPS tracking ruling will mean for this case.