Court Rules To Uphold Dismissal Of Charges In Deer Poaching Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals says a lower court was right to dismiss charges in a high-profile poaching case after authorities put a GPS device on a man's truck without a warrant.

The appeals court ruled Monday that putting the device on Joshua Dwight Liebl's truck without a warrant amounted to an unreasonable search.

The case was one of the biggest deer-poaching busts in recent memory. Liebl, of Dawson, was charged with numerous counts and authorities confiscated the racks of 37 deer.

The Department of Natural Resources had a "tracking order" to put the device on Liebl's truck in 2014, but a judge in west-central Minnesota found earlier this year that the order wasn't enough. As a result, evidence obtained from that device was tossed and the charges were dismissed.