Monday, March 06, 2023

Cellphones May Have Boosted Justice More Than Anything In History

Posted by Peter Quennell

Drone footage of the scene of the crime

Overview

At the Knox & Sollecito trial in 2009, the cellphone evidence may well have been a game-changer for the unanimous jury.

There was a ton of it and it remorselessly demonstrated who was doing what and when despite the defense’s contrary claims. Hence all the smoke blown over the DNA.

With techniques and capacities forever gaining ground, professionals say cellphones are dissuading or putting away a lot more criminals than DNA has ever done.

Kohberger, the Washington State doctoral student charged with killing four Idaho students, has found his telling cellphone movements plotted sufficiently to fill a small book. 

A high-profile American trial has just concluded, that of prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife and one son. He was handed two life sentences without parole to be served end-to-end. 

Whereupon three jurors have explained on national TV that above all it was Murdaugh’s voice on a video on his murdered son’s cellphone, evidence late in coming because the Apple phone had to be cracked, that proved he was there at the scene of the crime at the precise time.

Murdaugh really floundered on the stand trying to explain this one.

His own cellphone call to 911 in the video above also reeked of false claims. Scroll down here for some excellent YouTube comments.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/06/23 at 05:45 PM in Hoaxes Sollecito etc

Comments

Apple has long refused to make a “back door” to bypass its phones’ security available to the FBI, on the basis that that could turn off a lot of customers and result in liability lawsuits.

In 2016 the FBI employed an anonymous hacker group to crack the code for that level of Apple phone security.

https://tinyurl.com/5n8cnmjp
https://tinyurl.com/2tc5r3pk

Thereupon Apple escalated its cellphones’ security, and so the kabuki dance began all over again.

But the murdered Brian Murdaugh’s justice was not well served for many months by his password protection, and had the FBI’s hacker group not succeeded in cracking Apple security once again, the killer (Brian’s dad) might well have walked free. 

I don’t yet see a report on how the FBI’s shadowy hacker group cracked the phone, and it may forever remain under wraps. One day Apple phones may become absolutely unhackable.

A good thing? I dont think so.

I’ve asked around and most folks have zero confidential information on their phone that is not also on the servers of their cellphone providers. Just their address book.

At accidents, paramedics and police often use victims’s phones if unprotected to contact family or doctors and so victims are helped and maybe lives are saved. (Check out this.)

In a mountain park an hour’s drive north of NYC a few months ago, I came upon a lost phone (actually a clamshell) on a park bench. It was unlocked and so I could see it had maybe 2-3 hours of power left.

With little time to spare I was finally able to figure out how to navigate to the address book, and I could see about 100 names in there.

Using my own phone I left some voicemails.

It transpired that the owner lives two hours north of NYC. Her family got in touch, and a relative drove down here to collect it. Masses of joy by that owner, who had thought she had lost her address book forever.

Some smart owners around here keep their phones locked, but also, they write the password on the back under the cover for situations just like that above.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/08/23 at 12:44 PM | #

There is an article on Sunak in one of our newspapers that I read online:

https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-incidental-prime-minister/cid/1921881

what is happening to all of us?

Take care and stay safe.

Posted by chami on 03/11/23 at 09:16 PM | #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

Where next:

Click here to return to The Top Of The Front Page

Or to next entry Solitary Confinement Rate In US Prisons Many Times The Global Average

Or to previous entry Dr Mignini’s Book #3 On How Most Non-Italian Media & Reporters Misrepresented The Case