Professor Imwinkelried Quoted in American Bar Association Journal on Evidence Law

Professor Edward Imwinkelried is quoted in an article in the June 2013 issue of The American Bar Association Journal on the admissibility of cell tower evidence. 

The article quotes Professor Imwinkelried as stating that in the past, prosecution experts have often overstated the precision of cell tower tracking.  In some cases, all that cell tower information can establish is that the caller was somewhere in a coverage area that could include over 400 square miles.   

In the article, Imwinkelried points out that unlike GPS, cell tower systems were never designed for tracking purposes.  In a 2012 federal decision, United States v. Evans, Judge Joan Lefkow sharply limited the prosecution expert's testimony.  In her opinion, Judge Lefkow rejected the claim that a cell phone always connects to the tower with the strongest signal. 

Professor Imwinkelried is the coauthor, with Paul Giannelli, Andrea Roth, and Jane Campbell Moriarty, of Scientific Evidence (Lexis Pub.Co. 5th ed. 2012).  Imwinkelried previously coauthored an article, critiquing cell tower evidence, in Judicature.

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