State’s Final Witnesses Discuss Fitbit and Cell Phone Data

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Fitbits and cell phones were the focus of Tuesday morning in the George Burch murder trial.

Day seven was also the day that the state called their final witness, resting their case, allowing the defense to call witnesses.

Before the state rested, they looked closer into the Fitbit that Nicole VanderHeyden’s boyfriend Doug Detrie was wearing the night of the murder, as well as cell phone activity of George Burch.

Sergeant Richard Loppnow of the Brown County Sheriff’s office was called back to testify. Loppnow said he viewed videos of Detrie, and counted the steps that he took in those videos. He testified he then had data sent from Fitbit that confirmed the number of steps recorded at those points in the video.

“That was time stamped in our records management system, and I took that data, and the data that was given to us by Fitbit, and compared the two,” Loppnow testified.

Loppnow told the court that he found the Fitbit data to be very accurate, with just a few times when the numbers did not match.

 

Read More from WSAU Green Bay Here

Cellphone technology takes center stage at Burke trial

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A criminal analyst with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation showed jurors “maps” Wednesday – showing the movements of Austin Burke’s cellphone June 12, the day Burke is accused of killing Brandon Sample in a rural area of Bristol Township.

The testimony of Bill Moskal of the bureau and the 15 images he created for Burke’s trial were projected onto a screen in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

The images mapped the locations of Burke’s phone. Some of the images showed miles-wide circles showing the cellphone tower that picked up Burke’s phone at various times.

The center of the circle indicated the cellphone tower, and the areas around the tower were probable areas where the phone was located.

Read More from The Vindicator Here

Driver seen on video with cellphone before deadly 2016 bus crash: Prosecutors

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New video played in court today shows the driver in a deadly 2016 bus crash with a cellphone in his hand, prosecutors say.

Johnthony Walker, 25, was driving a school bus when it crashed on Talley Road in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Nov. 21, 2016. Thirty-seven students were on the bus at the time of the crash; six died and many others were injured.

Walker is charged with 34 counts, including six counts of vehicular homicide. His trial began today and he has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutor Crystle Carrion introduced three video clips from three different cameras on the school bus. One clip shows students getting on the bus prior to the crash, prosecutors say, adding that a cellphone can be seen in Walker’s hand.

Read More from ABC News Here

Bill proposes expedited wireless communication tracking in emergency situations

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Law enforcement agencies in Virginia could soon have faster access to resources in the cases of missing people. It is part of a new bill working its way through the legislature. Seconds can be key when it comes to solving abduction cases. Technology often helps investigators crack the code. “If it’s truly abduction, it’s immediate,” Captain Scott Snapp said. Snapp oversees the criminal investigations division at the Washington County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office. He said investigators start working urgently to track cell phone locations. Right now, they have to delay to obtain a court order to request the information from cell phone carriers.

Read More from WCYB.com Here

Texts at issue as Blacksburg doctor goes on trial Monday; disputed investigation of witness tampering pits U.S. against Brownlee

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Federal prosecutors said cellphone records of a defense lawyer in a Roanoke drug case were obtained to determine if he encouraged a subpoenaed witness not to testify before the grand jury.

The explanation filed in court Friday and a defense response Saturday add to an unusual exchange of accusations between the U.S. attorney’s office in Roanoke and the man who once headed it, John L. Brownlee, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia who now works as a criminal defense lawyer.

Brownlee represents Dr. Frank Purpera Jr., who practices in Blacksburg and was indicted by a grand jury Dec. 14 on 68 charges of obtaining controlled substances by fraud; failing to keep proper records; and making false statements. Brownlee previously worked as a defense lawyer for former Gov. Bob McDonnell during his corruption trial.

 Read More From the Richmond Times-Dispatch Here