A new exhibit in the Visitor Education Center centers on a case about the use of GPS by law enforcement to track a vehicle.

A new exhibit in the Visitor Education Center centers on a case about the use of GPS by law enforcement to track a vehicle.

The Ohio Supreme Court this week unveiled a new Visitor Education Center exhibit about law enforcement use of a tracking device to uncover a drug deal.

“Eye in the Sky” features a satellite hanging above visitors’ heads and a panel of information that explains decisions in the case by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ohio Supreme Court, and lower courts.

Based on tips from informants, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office suspected Sudinia Johnson of buying and selling large amounts of cocaine. A deputy sheriff placed a tracking device on Johnson’s van without obtaining a warrant.

Law enforcement tracked the van by Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) to Chicago, where Johnson met with an accomplice. The two men drove separately back to Butler County, where officers stopped and searched both vehicles, found about 15 pounds of cocaine, and arrested Johnson.

The local trial court determined that the seized cocaine was obtained legally by police for use as evidence. Johnson was convicted and given a 15-year prison sentence, which was upheld by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals. Johnson appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.

But while Ohio’s highest court was considering the case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a case from another state, that officers must have a warrant before placing a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s motor vehicle. The Ohio Supreme Court returned Johnson’s case to the trial court with instructions to apply the new U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The Butler County court upheld Johnson’s sentence, saying officers acted in good faith at the time they placed the GPS device on Johnson’s van – because they did so before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The Twelfth District Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court agreed.

Johnson’s conviction remained in place. However, because of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, officers in nearly all cases are now expected to obtain a warrant before placing a GPS device on a vehicle.

Opened in 2005, the Visitor Education Center uses interactive exhibits to convey the role of the courts in Ohio. Visits are scheduled weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 614.387.9223 or e-mail courttours@sc.ohio.gov to schedule a tour. School tours typically last 90 minutes. More than 12,000 visitors toured the VEC in 2016.