Expert Witness Testimony Not Necessary To Authenticate GPS Device, Tracking Data

A federal trial judge did not err by allowing prosecutors to present geolocation data, maps, and other evidence derived from a GPS device authorities seized from the defendants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held Nov. 14 (United States v. Espinal-Almeida, 1st Cir., No. 10-1086).

The court decided, among other things, that the processes used by GPS technology are not so complex or unusual as to require expert testimony to authenticate GPS evidence.

The issues came up in a case in which prosecutors used GPS evidence to convict the defendant of manning a small fishing ...