Law Lessons from STATE OF NEW JERSEY V. ERIC PITTMAN, App. Div., A-2569-08T4, November 4, 2009:

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Generally, “the results of scientific tests are admissible at a criminal trial only when they are shown to have ‘sufficient scientific basis to produce uniform and reasonably reliable results and will contribute materially to the ascertainment of the truth.’” Romano v. Kimmelman, 96 N.J. 66, 80 (1984) (quoting State v. Hurd, 86 N.J. 525, 536 (1981) (quoting State v. Cary, 49 N.J. 343, 352 (1967))). In Romano, the Court required the State to show that the breathalyzer machine was properly calibrated in order for the results to be admissible at trial. Romano, supra, 96 N.J. at 66. In this regard, “[t]rial courts are expected to perform a gatekeeper role in determining whether there exists a reasonable need for an expert’s testimony, and what the parameters of that testimony may be.” State v. Nesbitt, 185 N.J. 504, 514 (2006).

“Global Positioning System technology is defined as ‘[a] system of satellites, computers, and receivers that is able to determine the latitude and longitude of a receiver on Earth by calculating the time difference for signals from different satellites to reach the receiver.’” State v. Harte, 395 N.J. Super. 162, 165 n. 1 (Law Div. 2006) (quoting The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed. 2000)).

Expert testimony is essential to determining the accuracy and trustworthiness, and therefore admissibility, of the particular GPS device used in a case.

A common reason for rejecting computerized evidence is lack of a sufficient foundation to show the accuracy and trustworthiness of the evidence. See 14 Am. Jur. 2d Proof of Facts § 17 (1977). Where a challenge is lodged, a court requires the party offering the computer information to provide a foundation therefor sufficient to warrant a finding that such information is trustworthy, and allows the opposing party the opportunity to inquire into the accuracy of the computer and input procedures used. United States v. De Georgia, 420 F.2d 889, 893 n. 11 (9th Cir. 1969). In reversing the conviction of a marijuana smuggler whose boat, used to import the contraband from the Mexican border to the United States, was equipped with a GPS device, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. Bennett, 363 F.3d 947 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 543 U.S. 950, 125 S. Ct. 363, 160 L. Ed. 2d 268 (2004), noted that in addition to failing to produce the GPS or its output for trial, the government did not establish that the defendant’s GPS information was necessarily accurate or that the GPS itself worked properly. Id. at 954 n. 7.

As noted by the Court of Appeals, “malfunctioning GPS devices are not unknown to this court.” Ibid. (citing United States v. McIver, 186 F.3d 1119, 1123 (9th Cir. 1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1177, 120 S. Ct. 1210, 145 L. Ed. 2d 1111 (2000)).

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