Beyond The Horizon

ICYMI: More Details About Bryan Kohberger's Digital Expert

Bryan Kohberger introduced his Alibi as evidence to the court recently and with that evidence he plans on calling an expert to explain why the digital evidence collected against him is not evidence at all.

In this episode, we learn more about that expert, Sy Ray.

A digital data investigator in criminal investigations plays a crucial role in gathering and analyzing digital evidence, particularly from cell phones. Here's what they typically do:

Evidence Collection: They work on obtaining digital evidence from cell phones seized during investigations. This can involve physically seizing the device, requesting data from service providers, or using specialized tools to extract data from the device.
Data Extraction: Once the device is in their possession, they use forensic software and tools to extract various types of data from the phone. This includes call logs, text messages, emails, photos, videos, browsing history, GPS location data, app usage data, and more.
Data Analysis: After extracting the data, they analyze it thoroughly to identify relevant information related to the case. This could involve looking for communication patterns, identifying contacts, analyzing timestamps, and establishing timelines of events.
Report Generation: They create detailed reports documenting their findings, including how the data was collected, the methods used for analysis, and their conclusions. These reports are often submitted as evidence in court proceedings.
Expert Testimony: In some cases, digital data investigators may be called upon to testify in court as expert witnesses to explain their findings and the methods used to collect and analyze the digital evidence.

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University of Idaho murder suspect's alibi defense puts spotlight on cellphone data analyst (nbcnews.com)

Duration:: 17m
Broadcast on:: 30 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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If they had a strong Alibi, we would have known about it a long time ago. But instead, all we got was muddy water from Brian Kohlberger's legal team talking about this Alibi or that Alibi and how they're going to provide it later on down the road. Only to come in with an underwhelming performance like this, not exactly the bombshell that they were hoping for. So, let's dive into this article from NBC News and let's see what they have for us. Headline, University of Idaho Murder Suspects Alibi, Defense, puts spotlight on cell phone data analyst. This article was authored by Eric Ortiz. And when we first talked about the Alibi, I gave you a profile of Mr. Ray and what his background was. And there's no doubt that it's pretty impressive, but you can guarantee that the state's going to have somebody that's equally impressive. Throwing Kohl water all over everything that Mr. Ray has to say. When Brian Kohlberger's lawyers filed an updated Alibi defense last week suggesting cell phone tower data will show the man suspected in the slangs of four University of Idaho students was not in the area of the crime. When they were killed, they said they planned to turn to an Arizona based cell data analyst for key testimony. Now remember leading up to this, the shoe was on the other foot and the prosecution had a ton of digital cell phone data that doesn't look good for Brian Kohlberger. All you heard from the defense and people that were, you know, championing Brian Kohlberger, if you will, that the data is not really that reliable. Now all of a sudden, the data is reliable and we should rely upon that data for Brian Kohlberger's Alibi, but not for putting him at the scene of the crime. Is that really what you're pitching to me? Now, with that said, I am more than willing to look at this evidence. I have no vendetta against Brian Kohlberger one way or the other, and my opinions about what happened here is based solely on the evidence that we have seen. Now of course, we have a long way to go, and there might be something that gets presented that changes everything. But as of now, nothing that I have seen from Kohlberger's defense team makes me pause and say to myself, well, maybe they're onto something here. In fact, it's the other way around, and until they can explain the DNA on that sheath, as I've said time and time again, all this other stuff is spinning your wheels in neutral. It wouldn't be the first time that Sy Ray has been asked to be an expert witness in a high-profile murder trial. Although he said Friday that, out of the moor, then 100 times he's testified in state and federal cases, it has typically been for the prosecution. Now Ray's involvement in the case of the four college students fatally stabbed in their off-campus apartment house in November 2022, which continues to stir speculation over why someone would commit the gruesome act is putting a spotlight on his expertise after past scrutiny over his credentials. So I had never heard of this gentleman previously, but according to this article, there has been some scrutiny over his work. Ray declined to address the Kohlberger case as a judge issued a gag order last year, preventing many involved from speaking publicly, but he said in general that it takes competent experts with adequate experience to interpret call detail records. And this is a big chance that they're taking here, folks. Talking about these cell phone records the way they are, considering how much digital evidence has been collected against Kohlberger, leads me to believe that this is nothing more than a Hail Mary. Where the challenges come in is when there's a different level of experience he added, and some of these records can be extremely complicated. Ray, a former Gilbert Arizona police detective founded ZX Corp, a company specializing in cellular geolocation mapping. In 2014, in the courtroom, Ray has found himself and is mapping software tracks under questions about reliability before. So this is going to be an issue, there's no doubt. If you don't think Thompson and company are going to bring this up, you're crazy. And what they're going to do is they're going to bring in their own experts. And those experts are going to challenge the narrative that's being put forth by the defense. And, like I always say, it's going to come down to the jury and their interpretation of the evidence for what it is. And remember the DNA that was sent out in Moscow? They sent it to Authrum, and Authrum is the premier destination for stuff like this to go down. They are the best in the business when it comes to genealogy, when it comes to old, cold cases, Authrum is where it's at. And that's who they used here for the DNA. And you notice that they're not talking about the DNA or bringing an expert on to challenge that. What they're doing is trying to go for the technicalities, right? And they know that the digital evidence that's been compiled against Koburger Strong, so they're going to have to bring their own expert on to try and muddy those waters. And that's exactly what they're trying to do here. "I've seen in previous cases, whereas credibility has been brought into question," said Mark Foff, a cellular technology expert, and former Sheriff's detective in El Paso County, Colorado. Foff testified for the defense in a 2022 hearing related to the case of a man accused of stalking an ex-girlfriend. But the judge barred prosecutors from using Ray's software data, so you know that the prosecution in Idaho knows about that. They're going to bring that up. They're going to challenge having this man and the software that he uses. If they've already challenged him or he's been challenged in another case, you know how much prosecutors love President. District Court Judge Juan Villazenor ruled that ZX track's mapping was inadmissible and based on a sea of unreliability after other experts found the technology to be problematic. For one, the court doesn't find Ray credible. Villazenor wrote, adding, "He inflated his credentials and accurately claiming to be an engineer. He went on to say that Ray has no qualifications, licenses, or credentials to support, calling himself an engineer, and that there's no evidence that Ray has been killed." No evidence that Ray's taken any engineering classes. All damning." And the prosecution, they're going to bring on an expert that has done all of that. Villazenor also took exception with how the track's algorithm wasn't open to scientific scrutiny. While Ray stands by his formula, it hasn't gained traction in the scientific community the judge wrote, "The methodology and algorithm aren't published or subject to peer review, and they've been routinely labeled as junk science by the relevant, scientific community." So, this is the guy that they're bringing on to defend Brian Coburger. And when I have my doubts, this is why. You're going to bring on a guy with credibility issues? That's really the way you want to go about this? Okay, I guess. Don't complain, though, when the jury absolutely laughs him out of the courtroom? Ray said on Friday that he agreed with the defense and that there was inaccuracy with the data, but the case was an anomaly. NBC News found other cases, including in Pennsylvania and Michigan, in which Ray's credibility and data were questioned in hearings, but judges ultimately deemed them admissible. "I absolutely stand by the product," Ray said. He added that the Colorado judge denigrated his background unfairly and that he was misquoted and misinterpreted about discussing how he and engineers interpret call records. He said he's gone into the field to research how cell phones will connect to certain cell towers, which an engineer would not need to do. "In a way, I'm doing something the engineers don't do to figure out how to do this better," he said Friday, adding that track software is testable by others. It's unclear how many law enforcement agencies currently use tracks, but Ray in 2022 said he provided training to more than 8,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and defense experts. Lexus Nexus purchased ZX in 2021. The data analytics company said in a statement that it is proud to support a broad range of law enforcement agencies, but does not disclose customer information. According to a background of Ray's experience filed in court documents by Coburger's defense team, he ended his role as director for Lexus Nexus Special Services last year. "Hey guys, it is Ryan. I'm not sure if you know this about me, but I'm a bit of a fun fanatic when I can. I like to work, but I like fun too. And now, I can tell you about my favorite place to have fun." Shumba Casino. They have hundreds of social casino style games to choose from, with new games released each week. You can play for free, and each day brings a new chance to collect daily bonuses. So join me in the fun. Sign up now at ShumbaCassino.com. Sponsored by Shumba Casino, no purchase necessary. VGW Group, voidware prohibited by law, 18-plus terms and conditions apply. He also has appeared on various true crime television shows, including NBC's Dateline, and hosts a true crime podcast with his wife, Socialite Crime Club, in which they discuss their involvement in criminal cases from around the world and what it takes to solve complex investigations. The Idaho Alibi. In a 10-page filing Wednesday signed by Ann Taylor, Coburger's lead public defender, his lawyer said they would call on Ray to help corroborate their client's alibi. At the time of the slayings, Coburger was a doctoral student at Washington State University and living in Pullman, Washington, about 10 miles west of Moscow, Idaho, where the University of Idaho is located. In an affidavit following Coburger's arrest weeks after the killings, prosecutors said he was linked to the scene through the DNA discovered on a knife sheath left at the victim's apartment house. And good luck with that. This is the key piece of evidence here, the evidence that, in my opinion, is going to see Brian Coburger convicted. In addition, investigators said they tracked Coburger in the area of the home through his cell phone use and surveillance that picked up a Hyundai Elantra that they believed he was driving. Coburger's alibi defense said he would go for nighttime drives and that those only increased during the school year. This is supported by data from Mr. Coburger's phone showing him in the countryside late at night and/or in the early morning on several occasions. They wrote, "Yeah, as he's planning out these murders, finding the new route that he's going to take home, I mean, there's a million different things you can say about this. And if you think the prosecution is just going to sit back and let them run rough shot over them, you're crazy." The phone data includes numerous photographs taken on several different late evenings and early mornings, including in November, depicting the night sky. In the early morning hours of November 13th, 2022, when Cayley got on solvus 21, Madison Mogan 21, Zana Kernodel 20, and Kernodel's boyfriend Ethan Chapin 20 were killed Coburger was out driving in an area south of Pullman and West Emasco. Yeah, might as well have been on the moon. Yeah, bro, I was on the moon doing a moonwalk. That's about how reliable this alibi is. Nobody can corroborate this one either. But the defense team added Ray's testimony intends to show that Coburger's mobile device did not travel on the East Emasco Pullman highway. In the early morning hours of November 13th, and thus could not be the vehicle, captured on video along the Moscow Pullman highway near Floyd's cannabis shop. They said that Ray would be able to share further analysis that would be based on discovery provided by the prosecution. But if such information is not disclosed, Mr. Ray's testimony will also reveal that critical exculpatory evidence further corroborating Mr. Coburger's alibi was either not preserved or has been withheld. Yeah, you know what? I'm sure that the Odenites have this evidence too. The Odenite showed up up here in Idaho, stole the evidence, and then framed Brian Coburger. Prosecutors had said in its affidavit that a search warrant provided Coburger's cell phone data for the 24 hours before and after the incident, and it showed that he left his home two hours before the killings, and then turned his phone off, only to turn it on again afterward when he was traveling from Idaho to Pullman. A grand jury last May indicted Coburger on four counts of murder and burglary, and a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. A trial was expected to begin last October, but has been delayed with a change of venue, hearing scheduled for June 27th. Cell phone analysis. While further detail about how Ray would support the defense's alibi claim is unclear, the use of such cell phone mapping technology and forensics has become a sought after capability in legal proceedings, experts say, as prosecutors attempt to prove a defendant was at the scene of a crime. Defense teams as well maverying on their own experts to refute law enforcement's analysis, and that's for sure how it happens. Every single time you have a trial and there's any kind of question about technology, everybody's bringing their own expert on board. And then those experts are going to get in front of the jury and they're going to explain why they feel the narrative that their pitching is the narrative that's supported by the evidence. Kevin Horan, a retired FBI agent and co-founder of Precision Cellular Analysis, an Ohio-based firm that consults in legal cases, said mapping software generally works the same. It matches cell site information known as call detail records with a list of cell towers and plots it onto a map. He said analysts can determine from which side or sector of a cell tower a cell phone utilized. In criminal cases, he added, investigators can use that information to analyze whether the phone was in a certain vicinity of where the crime happened. Ultimately, the question of where the phone was during the date and time in question is answered by the jury who must decide based on all the available evidence if the defendant and his phone were at the crime scene. Horan said, cell phone evidence like this simply helps the jury draw these types of conclusions. A properly trained cell phone expert will never testify that based on the cell phone data, the defendant or his phone were at a crime scene. And that's true. They can only say that they were near a crime scene and that's because the cell phone pinged to the tower, but that's not an absolute. It just goes along with the totality of the evidence that has already been presented. Horan said that Ray's tracks mapping software has stood out from other programs because it includes an estimated coverage area of a cell site, which he finds highly problematic and misleading. And that only a test drive in which scanning gear is used can help determine a cell site's full coverage area. Ray said the company he founded has a database in which every cell site in the U.S., hundreds of thousands have been mapped, updated, over time and archived. We've been drive testing since 2014, and every drive test we do, we archive, Ray said. Nobody will ever be able to drive test every cell site. It's an impossible task. Horan said, in general, it's imperative for the data collected to be accurate and interpreted correctly. People's lives, their liberty, is on the line. And we certainly don't want to convict someone who's innocent or use evidence that's questionable and could come back at a later time, he said. And there's no doubt about that. So I'm glad to see that Coburger has an expert here. That way later on when he's trying to appeal the conviction that I believe's coming, he can't say that he didn't have all the proper representation or the proper experts, none of that nonsense. So as we get closer to the trial, my guess is you can expect more stuff like this to pop up, more issues, more experts, and more back and forth between both sides as the battle for the narrative in Moscow fully gets underway. All right, folks, that is a wrap for this one. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box. It is Ryan C. Chris here. People always say it's good to unwind, but that's easier said than done. The exception, Champa Casino. They actually make it easier done than said, or at least the same. 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