Kelly v. United States, 281 A.3d 610

On a Metro train from Southern Avenue (MD) to Congress Heights (DC), Kelly sat next to Jordan Tyler, displayed a gun under his leg, and demanded Tyler’s phone, headphones, bag, and shoes; Tyler surrendered the items unwillingly, fearing for his life.
Metro surveillance filmed the incident (weapon not visible on video); Kelly and his girlfriend exited at Congress Heights; Kelly later gave Tyler’s shoes to his girlfriend and discarded a backpack.
WMATA surveillance identified the SmarTrip card number Kelly used; the card was placed on WMATA’s tracking list, generating email alerts of entry/exit times and stations.
Police located Kelly the next day at Gallery Place via the SmarTrip alert; officers seized the shoes from the girlfriend and arrested Kelly days later, finding the SmarTrip card on him.
Kelly was convicted of robbery (acquitted of weapon offenses). He appealed, arguing (1) the SmarTrip tracking was an unlawful search, (2) evidence was insufficient to prove robbery by putting Tyler in fear, and (3) the jury should have decided geographic jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Kelly)	Defendant's Argument (United States)	Held
Whether police use of SmarTrip data was a Fourth Amendment search	Use and tracking of SmarTrip card was an unlawful search and evidence should be suppressed	Data were WMATA business records; alerts provided limited, non-continuous public-location information, not a search	Not a search; motion to suppress properly denied
Sufficiency of evidence that Kelly used force or put Tyler in fear to effectuate robbery	Evidence insufficient to prove robbery by putting victim in fear	Tyler’s testimony plus video and corroborating facts support robbery	Evidence sufficient; conviction upheld
Whether trial court erred by deciding geographic jurisdiction and not submitting it to jury	Jury should have decided whether robbery occurred in DC; court lacked jurisdiction if robbery occurred in MD	Even if robbery occurred in MD, D.C. had jurisdiction under statute because Kelly brought stolen property into DC; any instructional error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt	Any failure to submit jurisdiction to jury was harmless; D.C. had jurisdiction

Commonwealth v. Henley, 171 N.E.3d 1085 (Mass. 2021) (short-term transit-card record checks did not constitute a Fourth Amendment search)
United States v. Knotts, 460 U.S. 276 (U.S. 1983) (limited public movements tracking not a search; continuous dragnet surveillance raises different concerns)
Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (U.S. 2018) (cell-site location records over extended period are a Fourth Amendment search)
Jones v. United States, 168 A.3d 703 (D.C. 2017) (use of cell-site simulator is a search; distinguishes limited tracking forms)
Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1999) (failure to submit an element to the jury is harmless if error did not contribute to verdict)
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (U.S. 2000) (defendants have right to jury determination of every fact that increases the penalty)