GPS data at issue in Peterson case

CNN.com/Law center ^ | Tuesday, February 17, 2004

[runningbear]

GPS data at issue in Peterson case

Scott Peterson is charged with killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

GPS data at issue in Peterson case

Judge to hear defense request to sequester jury

Tuesday, February 17, 2004 Posted: 0544 GMT ( 1:44 PM HKT)

REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- Prosecutors and defense attorneys in Scott Peterson's murder trial are due in court again Tuesday to argue whether information gathered from tracking Peterson's vehicles by satellite after his wife disappeared should be admitted as evidence.

Peterson, 31, is charged with killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Their bodies washed up separately on the shore of San Francisco Bay in April 2003.

After Laci Peterson vanished in late December 2002, police in the couple's hometown of Modesto placed global positioning system devices on three vehicles used by Scott Peterson to track his whereabouts. GPS devices use satellite technology to pinpoint locations.

A prosecution witness testified last week that the GPS devices, despite briefly malfunctioning at least four times, accurately tracked Peterson to San Francisco Bay.

Peterson told police he was fishing in the bay December 24, 2002, the day his 27-year-old wife disappeared, and had launched his boat from the Berkeley Marina. The bodies washed ashore a few miles from the marina.

Prosecutors said the GPS evidence is circumstantial but indicates that .......

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Court considers introduction of GPS data

Article Last Updated: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 3:43:18 AM PST

Court considers introduction of GPS data

Modesto police used satellite device to track Scott Peterson

By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER

REDWOOD CITY -- Prosecutors in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial will continue arguing today that data from a satellite tracking device during the Modesto police's surveillance of Peterson should be allowed as evidence.

Not only could the data be important for the prosecution's case against Peterson, the debate being heard in the Redwood City courtroom will influence the future use of Global Positioning Systems, or GPS, by California law enforcement agencies.

"This is the first case where it's been challenged, and it will set the precedent one way or the other," said Michael Seigel, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Florida and a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law.

Seigel said GPS technology has been admitted as evidence in other states and in some federal cases because, to this point, it has not been challenged.

Police installed the tracking device on vehicles driven by Peterson after his wife disappeared and before his arrest. At a hearing Wednesday, prosecutors presented maps that showed Peterson's alleged visits to the Berkeley Marina in the days and weeks after Laci disappeared.

At this point only the prosecution and defense know how the evidence will be used, and both sides are under a gag order and cannot comment. But some legal experts have said the data might be used by prosecutors to show that Peterson returned to the marina to see if the bodies had floated to the surface.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos pointed out three separate glitches in the data and argued that the information should not be allowed as evidence because the technology is flawed.

The prosecution is expected to call as a witness today a representative from Orion Electronics, the manufacturer of the device used by Modesto police.

Geragos spent most of Wednesday's hearing grilling the prosecution's first witness, Peter Loomis, a staff scientist for Trimble Navigation, a maker of GPS technology.

While Loomis bolstered the prosecution's case by testifying that, despite the brief malfunctions, the devices are scientifically sound, Geragos had him on the defensive much of the day.

Other issues to be decided by Delucchi before jury selection begins include: .........

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GPS debate continues today in Peterson trial

GPS debate continues today in Peterson trial

By Michelle Durand, Daily Journal Staff

Judge Al Delucchi is expected to hear final testimony today about whether global positioning technology should be allowed as evidence in the Scott Peterson murder trial or if it is “fatally flawed” as the defense claims.

Delucchi’s decision, which will come after experts for both sides testify, will determine the admissibility of the tracking data. Prosecutors hope to use the data to show Peterson’s movements after police began eyeing him as a suspect in the disappearance of his pregnant 27-year-old wife, Laci, from the couple’s Modesto home.

If allowed, the evidence could be used to show that Peterson traveled to an area north of Fresno — the town where Peterson’s mistress lived — and to the Berkeley marina where the bodies of his wife and the couple’s fetus were eventually found. It would also be the first time the technology would be used in a California court.

If Delucchi agrees with defense attorney Mark Geragos, a jury will not hear about the tracking devices and what data was collected. Geragos argued last Wednesday that the systems are “fatally flawed” and lost track of his client two separate times. Geragos also wants prosecutors to tell the court where on Peterson’s vehicles the tracking devices were attached.

If the GPS ruling is given today, decisions will follow on whether to sequester the jury and if two separate juries are needed for the guilt and penalty phases. Prosecutors filed motions last week opposing Geragos’ request for both. The rulings must be completed before jury selection can begin in the capital murder trial. Delucchi has said he hopes to begin picking a jury within two weeks.

Other pre-trial motions remaining including the admissibility of dog tracking evidence and the testimony of a witness who was hypnotized.

If convicted of killing his wife and unborn son, 31-year-old Peterson faces........

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[runningbear]

okay, no problem. Was a very very very interesting reading on Mouser. Thanks to RG providing the update.