Witness 35: FBI Agent Chad Fitzgerald and junk science
by WO
March 17, 2015
Welcome to the world of cell phones. If you have a question about cellular connections, FBI Special Agent Chad Fitzgerald is your guy. He came to Boston after the bombings and stayed for a week. He was asked to look at Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev's phone records during that week.
His testimony in court included topics such as cellphone towers, cellphone tower fingerprints, cell companies, signals, batons, and *yawn"...let's move on. And let me preface this with I'm kinda confused about the whole cellphone situation. So here goes...
His testimony in court included topics such as cellphone towers, cellphone tower fingerprints, cell companies, signals, batons, and *yawn"...let's move on. And let me preface this with I'm kinda confused about the whole cellphone situation. So here goes...
The Background
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The phones:
Dzhokhar: 1. A pre-paid AT&T "burner" phone registered to Jahar None Tsarni. 2. A second "burner" phone. 3. A T-Mobile phone that was disconnected in April, 2013. No dates. Tamerlan: 1. A pre-paid AT&T phone. |
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The calls:
April 15, 2013
2:49pm: Dzhokhar uses his burner phone for the first time. He calls Tamerlan, the call lasts 8 seconds. Tamerlan received this call in the area of Marathon Sports.
2:51pm: Tamerlan calls Dzhokhar. Tamerlan appears to be further north at the time of this call.
2:53pm: Dzhokhar Tamerlan. Fitzgerald testified that both phones appeared to be in the same cell sector; just north of Boylston, near Newbury and Berkley Street.
3:14pm: Tamerlan calls in the area of Central Square, Cambridge (near Whole Foods).
3:30pm: Tamerlan calls in an area farther north in Cambridge.
8:30-8:45pm: Tamerlan's phone active. It's unclear if he was calling from North Cambridge or he was calling North Cambridge.
10:20pm: Tamerlan makes a call from 410 Norfolk Ave.
April 16, 2013:
- Tamerlan's phone located in Cambridge
- Dzhokhar's phone mostly in the New Bedford area, near UMass.
April 17, 2013:
- Tamerlan makes multiple calls in the Boston area the entire day.
- Dzhokhar's phone pings to UMass most of the day.
April 18, 2013:
- Both phones make calls in Cambridge
5pm to 7:30pm: Tamerlan's phone pings near his home on Norfolk in Cambridge.
- In the evening, Tamerlan makes multiple phone calls, Jahar makes one. It's the first phone call Dzhokhar made since marathon Monday.
- At some point, Tamerlan was in Allston and made a call to Jahar who was in West Cambridge/Watertown.
8:00pm: The brothers call each other.
11:00pm: The brothers call each other. Records show Jahar was on the Cambridge side of the Charles River at the time of the call. Tamerlan was on the other side.
April 15, 2013
2:49pm: Dzhokhar uses his burner phone for the first time. He calls Tamerlan, the call lasts 8 seconds. Tamerlan received this call in the area of Marathon Sports.
2:51pm: Tamerlan calls Dzhokhar. Tamerlan appears to be further north at the time of this call.
2:53pm: Dzhokhar Tamerlan. Fitzgerald testified that both phones appeared to be in the same cell sector; just north of Boylston, near Newbury and Berkley Street.
3:14pm: Tamerlan calls in the area of Central Square, Cambridge (near Whole Foods).
3:30pm: Tamerlan calls in an area farther north in Cambridge.
8:30-8:45pm: Tamerlan's phone active. It's unclear if he was calling from North Cambridge or he was calling North Cambridge.
10:20pm: Tamerlan makes a call from 410 Norfolk Ave.
April 16, 2013:
- Tamerlan's phone located in Cambridge
- Dzhokhar's phone mostly in the New Bedford area, near UMass.
April 17, 2013:
- Tamerlan makes multiple calls in the Boston area the entire day.
- Dzhokhar's phone pings to UMass most of the day.
April 18, 2013:
- Both phones make calls in Cambridge
5pm to 7:30pm: Tamerlan's phone pings near his home on Norfolk in Cambridge.
- In the evening, Tamerlan makes multiple phone calls, Jahar makes one. It's the first phone call Dzhokhar made since marathon Monday.
- At some point, Tamerlan was in Allston and made a call to Jahar who was in West Cambridge/Watertown.
8:00pm: The brothers call each other.
11:00pm: The brothers call each other. Records show Jahar was on the Cambridge side of the Charles River at the time of the call. Tamerlan was on the other side.
The problem with Chad Fitzgerald's testimony
Chad Fitzgerald claimed he could pinpoint the exact physical locations of the brothers on Marathon Monday and throughout that week by using past cell phone records.
Example:
Tamerlan receives a call in the area of Marathon Sports
Tamerlan appears to be further north at the time of this call
But the claim was false. If this technology was possible, we could solve most any crime today.
According to Mike Masnick, who wrote in Tech Dirt in Sept 2014:
"Routinely collected tower data can place a mobile phone in a broad area, but it cannot “pinpoint” it. That would require a special three-tower “triangulation”, which cannot reveal past locations"
Here's another caveat, by Douglas Starr (ironically the BU professor who recommended the project “Will Box For Passport” to his journalism student)
"If I make a cell call from Kenmore Square, in my home town of Boston, you might think that I’m connecting to a cell site a few hundred feet away. But, if I’m standing near Fenway Park during a Red Sox game, with thousands of fans making calls and sending texts, that tower may have reached its capacity. Hypothetically, the system might send me to the next site, which might also be at capacity or down for maintenance, or to the next site, or the next. The switching center may look for all sorts of factors, most of which are proprietary to the company’s software. The only thing that you can say with confidence is that I have connected to a cell site somewhere within a radius of roughly twenty miles"
On Marathon Monday two major events were happening. The race and the Red Sox game. How could the FBI expert Fitzgerald possibly claim he located the brothers to within feet?
Example:
Tamerlan receives a call in the area of Marathon Sports
Tamerlan appears to be further north at the time of this call
But the claim was false. If this technology was possible, we could solve most any crime today.
According to Mike Masnick, who wrote in Tech Dirt in Sept 2014:
"Routinely collected tower data can place a mobile phone in a broad area, but it cannot “pinpoint” it. That would require a special three-tower “triangulation”, which cannot reveal past locations"
Here's another caveat, by Douglas Starr (ironically the BU professor who recommended the project “Will Box For Passport” to his journalism student)
"If I make a cell call from Kenmore Square, in my home town of Boston, you might think that I’m connecting to a cell site a few hundred feet away. But, if I’m standing near Fenway Park during a Red Sox game, with thousands of fans making calls and sending texts, that tower may have reached its capacity. Hypothetically, the system might send me to the next site, which might also be at capacity or down for maintenance, or to the next site, or the next. The switching center may look for all sorts of factors, most of which are proprietary to the company’s software. The only thing that you can say with confidence is that I have connected to a cell site somewhere within a radius of roughly twenty miles"
On Marathon Monday two major events were happening. The race and the Red Sox game. How could the FBI expert Fitzgerald possibly claim he located the brothers to within feet?
Fitzgerald has history
A judge ruled that a similar method used by Fitzgerald previously was unreliable because it had not been subject to scientific testing or formal peer review - and had not been generally accepted in the scientific community as accurate.
"The Court would have significant concerns if Special Agent Fitzgerald were to offer anexpert opinion on the precise street location or radius where the Defendant’s phonecommunications were made based on the telecommunications data and methodology identified in his testimony. However, Fitzgerald clearly indicated that based on current data and cell technology infrastructure, he could not reliably 0ffer an opinion regarding the specific location footprint indicated by the phone calls at issue here"
"The Court would have significant concerns if Special Agent Fitzgerald were to offer anexpert opinion on the precise street location or radius where the Defendant’s phonecommunications were made based on the telecommunications data and methodology identified in his testimony. However, Fitzgerald clearly indicated that based on current data and cell technology infrastructure, he could not reliably 0ffer an opinion regarding the specific location footprint indicated by the phone calls at issue here"
Worthless junk science ruins lives
'Cherry Biometrics' is a company spearheading the campaign against FBI cell phone junk science. They've had some stunning victories over the FBI in recent times, as the company's own scientists are light years ahead of those at the FBI. The FBI are not using proven scientific techniques for cellphone evidence, but sadly they go largely unchallenged.
Tech Dirt's Masnick cites a case where an innocent person was jailed for a murder based on fraudulent cellphone location evidence. When it was revealed that only real time triangulation can pinpoint a persons location the person exonerated - but still spent 12 years incarcerated as an innocent man.
Were the Tsarnaevs actually being watched in real time and the FBI is fudging the testimony? Is there technology available that is being kept secret for obvious reason?! Is the FBI just bluffing? Will the above testimony go unchallenged by the defense?
Innocent lives can be ruined based on this type of testimony. It often goes unchallenged because many judges, lawyers and the general public have no knowledge of the technology involved.
Tech Dirt's Masnick cites a case where an innocent person was jailed for a murder based on fraudulent cellphone location evidence. When it was revealed that only real time triangulation can pinpoint a persons location the person exonerated - but still spent 12 years incarcerated as an innocent man.
Were the Tsarnaevs actually being watched in real time and the FBI is fudging the testimony? Is there technology available that is being kept secret for obvious reason?! Is the FBI just bluffing? Will the above testimony go unchallenged by the defense?
Innocent lives can be ruined based on this type of testimony. It often goes unchallenged because many judges, lawyers and the general public have no knowledge of the technology involved.
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