I had to laugh about this one.
The wife of Kenneth Villanova, a Gloucester County sheriff’s officer had suspicions he was slippin' around, so she hired a private detective, Richard Leonard.
Being a cop, Villanova managed to evade Leonard's surveillance a number of times, so Leonard suggested that his client buy a GPS device and hide it in the glove compartment of Villanova's SUV.
Bingo, two weeks later Leonard caught Villanova red-handed with a woman not his wife, and Mrs. Villanova filed for divorce.
Once he found out exactly how he'd been caught, Villanova sued both his wife and the detective for invasion of privacy, claiming ”substantial and permanent emotional distress.”
As part of the divorce settlement, Villanova later dropped his ex-wife from the suit, bit continued legal action against the private detective.
Today,Appellate Judges Joseph Lisa, Jack Sabatino and Carmen Alvarez ruled that Villanova had no right to expect privacy because the GPS tracked his movements on public streets.
“There is no direct evidence in this record to establish that during the approximately 40 days the GPS was in the ... glove compartment the device captured a movement of plaintiff into a secluded location that was not in public view, and, if so, that such information was passed along by Mrs. Villanova to (Leonard),” Lisa wrote.
They also noted that in spite of his claims of emotional distress, there was no record of him seeking treatment, something Villanova's attorney should have set up for him to help make the case.
This is pretty much a landmark type case. There are few rules governing the use of GPS devices and this sets an interesting precedent.
There's got to be a country song in this somewhere.."Before You Go Off Sportin' Check The Glove Compartment" maybe?
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