Judge will review decision in burglary case based on recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling
LANCASTER — The two men who were convicted of breaking into a Baltimore home and shooting the owner’s dog in 2010 might get new trials or have their cases dismissed after an Ohio Supreme Court ruling.
A local judge now must decide whether to allow crucial evidence in the cases to be heard — evidence a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year indicated could be unconstitutional.
Fairfield County Prosecutor Gregg Marx had asked the Ohio Supreme Court to review the 2-to-1 decision by the Court of Appeals that evidence obtained from a GPS device, which Franklin County detectives installed on a suspect’s car without a warrant or court order, should be suppressed.
Detectives said the device showed the car was at the Baltimore house at the time of the home invasion, but when defense attorneys asked that the evidence be suppressed, a Fairfield County judge opted to allow the evidence to be considered part of the case. Both then pleaded no contest to their charges.
The Fifth District Court of Appeals later ruled the evidence should not have been considered.
