Which, of course, is the refrain of petty authoritarian bureaucrats.
Baltimore police have been using "cell phone trackers" or Stingrays for a
wide variety of criminal investigations; from murder to harassing phone
calls. Problem is, they didn't disclose their use during trial to defense
attorneys nor the court; as Maryland law states. As a result, about 2000
convictions are now in jeopardy.
Some are pooh-poohing the revelations, others are taking them more
seriously, including the city prosecutor's office which prosecuted those
cases and would have to retry if they are ruled "mistrials".
" The city’s prosecutors took a different view. Brown, the spokeswoman for
the State’s Attorney, said Maryland court rules require the authorities to
tell defendants about stingrays in every case in which one was used. She
said the office is working with the police to make sure they inform judges
before they use a stingray, and inform prosecutors after they make an
arrest.
“It’s something we’re very committed to resolving,” Brown said.".....
As a previous USA Today article makes clear, Baltimore is not the only PD
using this technology for non- War on Drugs/War on Terror activities.
Much more blow-
