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Judge allows gps tracking data { February 18 2004 }

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   http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%7E30730%7E1963334,00.html?search=filter

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%7E30730%7E1963334,00.html?search=filter

Oakland Tribune

Judge rules to allow GPS data
Move sets precedent; meanwhile, hypnotized witness disqualified
By Jason Dearen
STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, February 18, 2004 -

REDWOOD CITY -- The satellite tracking devices used by Modesto police to track Scott Peterson in the days after his wife disappeared will be allowed as evidence, Judge Alfred Delucchi ruled Tuesday.

Despite questions raised by the defense over the viability of the global positioning system, or GPS, devices, Delucchi determined that the technology is "accepted by the scientific community and fundamentally valid." Delucchi's ruling is the first court decision on the admissibility of GPS data in a murder trial. The data is widely used by law enforcement in surveillance, and sets a precedent that can be pointed to by other attorneys in future criminal cases.

Modesto police, tracking Peterson after the disappearance of his wife, installed small, paperback-book sized GPS devices on the vehicles he drove. Over the course of their surveillance, Peterson visited the Berkeley Marina three separate times, according to court testimony. Peterson was also tracked driving near Fresno.

The judge also ordered prosecutors to reveal the location of the devices on Peterson's vehicles to the defense. Until now, the exact placement had not been revealed.

Laci's body and the body of the couple's unborn child surfaced near the marina about four months after her disappearance, so the tracking data could be used by prosecutors to argue that Peterson was checking to see if the bodies had surfaced.

Prosecutor Rick Distaso brought Hugh Roddis, the president of Orion Electronics Ltd., to the stand Tuesday. Roddis' company is the maker of the devices used by Modesto police.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos spent the morning and a good deal of the afternoon grilling Roddis about three separate glitches made by the devices during police tracking of Peterson.

Roddis, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and speaking with an English accent, characterized the glitches as unimportant to the device's overall performance. "It's like when you're watching TV, and there's a burst of interference, but the rest of the program is OK," he said.

But Geragos argued that one of the receivers that was placed secretly on Peterson's vehicles had a bad antenna, and was unable to communicate its data to police properly. The same device, according to Geragos, also had an internal problem that kept it from logging some data.

"One of the two devices malfunctioned and was a total failure, right?" Geragos asked Roddis.

Roddis said no, and that despite the malfunctions, the device's data was retrieved after its antenna was replaced.

In trying to discount GPS technology, Geragos also said that the Federal Aviation Administration has refused to rely on it alone to help land airplanes. "If the FAA does not approve of GPS, how is it this can be used (as evidence) in a capital case?" he said.

But Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney Distaso pointed to the fact that GPS data is already used and accepted in aviation, automobiles, maritime and map-making. "Both experts found all of the tracks and information valid," he said, referring to Roddis and to GPS expert witness Peter Loomis.

Peterson, 31, faces two counts of premeditated murder -- and the death penalty -- in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn child. He has pleaded innocent to both counts.

In a victory for the defense Tuesday, Delucchi ruled that Kristen Dempewolf, a prosecution witness who was hypnotized by police, would not be allowed to testify.

Jury issues


Delucchi briefly addressed the issues of sequestration of the jury, and whether or not two juries should be fielded for the guilt and penalty phases of the trial. Both issues are likely to be decided before jury selection begins.

Geragos made an impassioned plea Tuesday for Delucchi to consider fielding two juries for this trial. "My client is innocent here. I'm not worried about the penalty phase. The guilt phase is the whole ball of wax here," he said.

"The depth of prejudgment against my client is like nothing I've seen in 20 years," Geragos said.

Geragos argued that two separate juries would increase the size of the jury pool.

The defense attorney also said he wants the extra jurors for insurance, in case a juror who is picked turns out to be biased, or what he called a "stealth juror," referring to someone who seems unbiased but is found out later to be so.

Delucchi assured Geragos that he will do everything he can to make sure Peterson gets a fair and impartial jury. "You can rest darn assured I'm going to try my very best to give you a level playing field in this case," he said.

The judge will decide whether or not to sequester the jury in coming days, most likely before jury selection, which could start as early as next week. Delucchi said the issue of sequestration, which isolates jurors from the outside world for the duration of the trial, will be decided before jury selection begins, so that people know what they are getting into.

"How about a young mother with two young children locked up with no TV? That would leave a lot of people saying, 'Take me out,'" he said.

Despite the prosecution's victory on the GPS data, Peterson's father said he felt the tide was turning in his son's favor.

"It's going to be a blowout, and my kid's going to walk out of here," Lee Peterson said as he walked out of the courthouse Tuesday.

At today's hearing, the court will examine whether information obtained by police investigators using wiretaps will be admissible.

Staff writer Jason Dearen covers courts and legal issues. He can be reached at (650) 306-2425 or by e-mail at jdearen@sanmateocountytimes.com .



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