KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has attorneys for a Northland man hopeful that they can get key evidence in his first-degree murder trial tossed out.
Eric Vernon, an attorney for Shon Pernice, has filed the motions, which a Clay County judge will hear on Friday.
Pernice's first-degree murder trial begins later this month. He is accused of killing his wife, Renee, whose body has never been found.
Renee Pernice disappeared in January 2009. Authorities and her family believe her husband, an Independence firefighter, killed her.
Vernon said due to last month's Supreme Court ruling involving the use of GPS devices, Vernon wants evidence obtained from Pernice's cell phone and vehicles thrown out.
Vernon said authorities did not have a warrant to use the GPS tracking information.
One of the most damning pieces of evidence against Pernice is that Kansas City police officers spotted him releasing the family dog in a park just days after his wife went missing. The officers had Pernice under surveillance, and retrieved the dog before he took off.
It wasn't immediately clear whether police were using GPS to monitor his movements to track him to the park.
Former Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison, who now practices as a defense attorney, said the nation's high court did not make clear whether the decision is retroactive or not. He said if it's retroactive then many new trials could be ordered.
"It's going to make police work a little harder," Morrison said. "Prosecutors and police are going to have to get warrants when they want to do this kind of thing."
To read previous coverage, click here and here and here.
To read previous coverage about how the Supreme Court ruling could affect cases in the Kansas City, click here.
To read about the Supreme Court ruling last month, click here.
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