Witness Must Be Qualified as Expert To Match Calls With Cell Tower Data

A police detective who followed the instructions that came with a batch of cell tower location data from a mobile phone service provider should have been qualified as an expert before testifying about call locations, the Maryland Court of Appeals held Dec. 11 (State v. Payne, 2014 BL 347308, Md., No. 85-2014).

Maryland’s rule on expert testimony tracks Fed. R. Evid. 702 and the 2000 amendment to Fed. R. Evid. 701, which clarified that lay opinions or inferences based on “scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge” come within the scope of Rule 702.

Neither the instructions nor the ...