United States v. Richard Martin

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

In August 2010, Normal, Illinois, police attached a battery-powered, global-positioning-system device (“GPS”) to the Lincoln sedan belonging to Defendant-Appellant Richard George Martin. Martin was a suspected drug trafficker, and the GPS was being used in an effort to monitor his movements. The police attached the GPS without seeking a warrant or consulting legal counsel regarding the constitutionality of this investigative technique. Again, without seeking a warrant or legal advice, the police attached a new GPS to the Lincoln on three more occasions, after the device…