Judge Suppresses Evidence After Warrantless Flock Search

A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that a Tulsa County deputy violated a driver’s Fourth Amendment rights by searching her historical license-plate-reader data without a warrant, and ordered evidence obtained afterward suppressed. The decision applies to the case before the court and does not establish binding precedent. U.S. District Judge Sara Hill found that Deputy Freddie Alaniz’s query of Flock Safety and other automated license-plate-reader systems revealed more than 50 records of the driver’s whereabouts across the country over about a month. Hill said the search intruded on the driver’s reasonable expectation of privacy in the whole of her physical movements. According to her written ruling, the record showed the query was prompted by the vehicle’s California license plate. The case involved Melisa Kyle, who was driving a Mazda SUV when Alaniz followed and later stopped her. Accounts of the stop differ in some details, including the stated traffic basis and what officers found during the vehicle search. Hill’s ruling focused on the earlier, warrantless search of location history and directed that evidence obtained after it be excluded.