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Light Shed on St. Louis Police Use of Cellphone Tracker

cellphone
William Hook
/
flickr

Defense attorneys are questioning the impact of local police using U.S. Secret Service cellphone tracking technology in 2014 to investigate a case.

Attorney Diane Dragan argues that some of the charges and all of the evidence stemming from her client's arrest should be tossed out of court because the cellphone tracking performed by the technology is illegal.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that lawyers say the legal mechanism police cite to justify the use of the technology is inadequate because federal prosecutors say the use of the system is akin to a formal search, which requires a search warrant.

St. Louis police are now getting warrants before using the tech, but attorneys say the concession could affect older cases.

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