Ohio Court of Appeals: No Katz argument for GPS use where defendant was "several times removed" from the renter

In State v. Rich, 2013 Ohio 857 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013), the Ohio Court of Appeals held that because the defendant was "'several times removed' from the person who rented the vehicle," he could not make a Katz argument to show that the use of a GPS device violated the Fourth Amendment.

Police were investigating a drug operation. The detective rented a vehicle, attached a GPS device, and gave the vehicle to a confidential informant. The informant picked up the suspects, and one of them later took over as the driver of the vehicle. Police later pulled the vehicle over, and cocaine was found. The defendant moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that the use of the GPS device violated the Fourth Amendment.

The Court of Appeals quickly shot down an argument that the use violated Jones. Because the device was placed prior to the defendant gaining possession of the vehicle, there was no trespass. However, the defendant made a Katz argument that he had a subjective expectation of privacy. Again, the court didn't buy it:

The facts show that Rich received permission to use the [vehicle] from one of his co-conspirators, Bernabe, who had received permission to use the vehicle from another of their co-conspirators, Rubio, who had received permission to use the vehicle from the [confidential informant], who had received the vehicle from Detective Thompson. We agree with the trial court that under these circumstances in which Rich was "several times removed" from the person who rented the vehicle, i.e., Detective Thompson, Rich did not have an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in the vehicle.

The court also noted that the use would have also been upheld under the good faith exception in Davis.