D.D.C.: Even suppression of GPS information in Jones doesn’t prevent inevitable discovery

In another Jones on remand case, the district court held that suppressing the GPS data would not lead to suppression of the police determining that 9509 Potomac Drive was the stash house because they figured that out the day before the GPS was installed on his Jeep. United States v. Jones, 1:05-cr-00386 (D. D.C. December 20, 2012):

5. Here, the Court concludes that defendant has not met his burden of establishing that, “but for the illegal [GPS search], the officers likely would not have discovered [the stash house and the evidence contained therein].” Holmes, 505 F.3d at 1292. To the contrary, on September 26, 2005, a day before the GPS device was even attached to Jones’ car, law enforcement officials had determined that 9508 Potomac Drive was the likely stash house based on: (1) the GPS coordinates from the “ping” to the 678 cell phone; (2) property records confirming that only 9508 and 9509 Potomac Drive were not owner-occupied; and (3) the physical appearance of 9508 Potomac Drive as compared to the other houses on the street. (See supra Findings of Fact ¶¶ 7-13.) They had also initiated the process of installing a stationary camera at 9509 Potomac Drive before they began accessing data from the GPS device. (See supra Findings of Fact ¶¶ 15-17.)

6. The Court further concludes that even if defendant could demonstrate a causal nexus between the GPS data and the location of the stash house, the evidence would be admissible under the inevitable discovery doctrine. After the GPS device was installed on Jones’ Jeep, law enforcement officers continued to obtain information from independent—and lawful—sources that confirmed that 9508 Potomac Drive was in fact the stash house. For example, they continued to monitor the Title III wiretap and on October 4, 2005, they observed Jones and his associate Roel Bermea driving to and from the Potomac Drive area. (See supra Findings of Fact ¶ 19.) They also succeeded in installing a stationary camera at 9509 Potomac Drive and obtained visual confirmation that Jones and Bermea frequented the 9508 address. (See supra Findings of Fact ¶ 20.) Thus, even if the Court were not convinced that law enforcement officers had in fact identified 9508 Potomac Drive as the stash house prior to the installation of the GPS device on defendant’s Jeep, the government has met its burden of showing that, absent the constitutional violation, it would inevitably have confirmed the location of the stash house using entirely lawful.

h/t reader. Also, many of the D.D.C. opinions are available on its website, but this one isn’t yet.