Dorian Gray Jackson v. State of Indiana
996 N.E.2d 378
Ind. Ct. App.2013Background
- Undercover officers and two cooperating sources made multiple controlled heroin buys from Dorian Jackson (and his father) in March 2011.
- Police placed a warrantless GPS tracker on a white Dodge Stratus believed to be Jackson’s and used its data to assist surveillance; the tracker indicated the Stratus traveled to Chicago and back.
- Officers, watching the vehicle (with GPS aid), initiated a traffic stop after observing the driver fail to signal 200 feet before a turn; Detective Stout recognized the driver as Jackson.
- Jackson was ordered out, observed with his pants and belt loose, arrested on probable cause from prior buys, and searched; heroin and marijuana were found in his underwear.
- Jackson was charged with multiple narcotics counts; he moved to suppress evidence obtained after the stop, arguing the GPS placement/search violated the Fourth Amendment. The trial court denied suppression except as to evidence derived solely from GPS tracking, and Jackson was convicted after a bench trial.
- On appeal, the court considered whether admitting the post-stop evidence was an abuse of discretion given Jones and the ‘‘fruit of the poisonous tree’’ doctrine; it affirmed convictions, finding attenuation of any GPS taint.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (State) | Defendant's Argument (Jackson) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether evidence discovered after a traffic stop must be excluded as fruit of an unlawful GPS search | GPS was not the but‑for cause; officers already had probable cause from controlled buys, visual ID, and a valid traffic stop — search incident to arrest justified seizure | Warrantless installation/monitoring of GPS was a Fourth Amendment search (Jones); evidence flowed from that illegality and must be suppressed | Court affirmed: any GPS‑based illegality was attenuated by intervening circumstances (traffic violation, visual ID, probable cause to arrest, safety concerns), so evidence admissible |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012) (warrantless GPS installation/monitoring on vehicle constitutes a Fourth Amendment search)
- Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963) (fruit of the poisonous tree and attenuation principles)
- Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590 (1975) (factors to determine attenuation of taint from illegal police conduct)
- United States v. Green, 111 F.3d 515 (7th Cir. 1997) (discussion of causal chain and attenuation analysis)
- United States v. Garcia, 474 F.3d 994 (7th Cir. 2007) (pre‑Jones holding that GPS tracking did not constitute a search)
- Merritt v. State, 488 N.E.2d 340 (Ind. 1986) (search incident to a lawful arrest justified to remove weapons/contraband)
- Smith v. State, 980 N.E.2d 346 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012) (search incident to arrest valid where officer had probable cause)