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| Specific cell phone testimony out in Martin trial |
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5/25/2018
By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer
Prosecutors were dealt a blow last week when a judge ruled that they cannot include specific cell phone location testimony at the Lonnie Martin murder trial next month.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge William “Bill” Lane ruled May 16 at a Daubert hearing that the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office cannot refer to data from a network location system known as NELOS at the trial.
A Daubert challenge is a hearing conducted before a judge where the validity and admissibility of expert testimony is required to demonstrate that his/her methodology and reasoning are scientifically valid and can be applied to facts of the case.
The Commonwealth planned to call a Winchester police detective to testify as to how the NELOS technology allowed investigators to pinpoint the victim’s phone to a farm on Prewitt-Grassy Lick Road.
The remains of Kyla Kline, 25, were found buried in a shallow grave on the farm July 6, 2013.
Prosecutors allege that Martin, 44, of Stanton, stabbed Kline to death and buried her body on the farm, where it was covered with a tarp and various debris.
He is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence.
At last week’s hearing, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Keith Craycraft called Darko Gospavic, a security compliance analyst with AT&T to testify. He testified via speakerphone from another location.
Gospavic testified that NELOS technology, which was created for planning and troubleshooting purposes, has been used by some in law enforcement to pinpoint the location of cell phones.
The Commonwealth planned to call Winchester Police Det. Dennis Briscoe, who has received training on NELOS technology, as an expert witness at trial. Briscoe has undergone training on the use of NELOS through the FBI, according to previous court testimony.
Jay Barrett, an attorney representing Martin, claims that Briscoe’s training is limited in nature.
Gospavic acknowledged that the technology has not been peer reviewed and there is no published report to specify the accuracy of the technology.
Barrett argued to the judge that the testimony cannot be allowed because it is not scientifically accepted.
Lane agreed that there must be something to the technology for AT&T to spend millions of dollars pursuing it, but ultimately found it inadmissible at trial because there is not an expert available to explain the details of the technology.
The Commonwealth can still use cell tower data as to general location of the phone, but it will not be as specific as the NELOS data, the judge said.
With the cell phone issue resolved the case appears on schedule to get under way June 18 in Rowan County. The trial was moved there because of considerable pretrial publicity.
Barrett said one piece of evidence the defense had been waiting on will not be available. He said experts were unable to perform a DNA match on a hair found under Kline’s fingernails because there wasn’t a large enough sample.
Martin is also charged in Clark County with the alleged murder of his cousin, Joseph B. Martin, years earlier. He is expected to be tried in that case upon the conclusion of the Montgomery County case.
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