Tuesday, February 17, 2004

GPS Evidence Admissible in Peterson Trial

According to a CNN report, the judge in the Peterson murder trial has ruled that the GPS evidence offered by the prosecution, tracking Scott Peterson's vehicular comings and goings after Laci Peterson went missing, will be admissible. The evidence rests on a methodology that is "generally accepted and fundamentally valid," Judge Delucchi said.
Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.