CA - Police have spent $5,000 on GPS vs. Radar Gun Case
Police have spent $5,000
on speeding ticket case
By DEREK J. MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Windsor teen's $190 speeding ticket is turning into an expensive court battle featuring law enforcement officials, lawyers and a highly paid expert in satellite technology.
Petaluma police have spent at least $5,000 so far on the case, which pits a global positioning system installed in the teen's car against police radar.
The family of 17-year-old Shaun Malone has hired a well-known Santa Rosa criminal defense attorney to argue the teen's side.
Both sides say they simply want the true facts to prevail in what may represent Sonoma County's most expensive court fight ever over a traffic ticket.
The case has attracted national attention for potentially setting a precedent for using GPS, which is becoming standard in vehicles as a mapping or tracking device.
The case is the first in Sonoma County involving the use of GPS to contest a speeding ticket.
"I don't want to spend the money, but until this (GPS) becomes commonplace, we have to set some sort of precedent, so that when it comes up in the future we don't have to spend so much," Petaluma Police Capt. Dave Sears said Wednesday.
Malone, a junior at Windsor High School, filed an appeal after a court commissioner in November ruled that he was guilty of speeding.
The teen got the ticket July 4 on Lakeville Highway after a Petaluma officer using radar clocked Malone's 2000 Toyota Celica GTS going 62 mph in a 45 mph zone.
Malone's family contends that a GPS system they installed in the teen's car to track his speed shows him driving 45 mph at virtually the same time and at the same place where the officer said he was exceeding the speed limit.
Malone's stepfather, retired Sonoma County Sheriff's Lt. Roger Rude, said the case is not just about a speeding ticket, but about fairness.
He said if Malone loses on appeal, the teen not only will have to pay the fine, but also will lose his driver's license for 30 days and likely see a spike in his insurance rates.
"It's not how the system is supposed to work," said Rude. "If Shaun is not guilty, he should not be paying the price as if he was."
Rude filed motions to obtain the radar manual used by Petaluma police and got copies of traffic engineering reports for the stretch of highway in question.
He created a Web site - www.rudeview.com - to document the case and appeared in a commercial for the Colorado company that supplied the tracking device in his stepson's car.
Customers receive a discount on the devices if they mention Rude's name. But Rude said he is not profiting from the arrangement and that his goal is to raise awareness of GPS technology, which he says can make teens safer drivers.
Santa Rosa attorney Andrew Martinez, who was hired by the family to represent Malone, defended Rude's zeal.
"Some people say it's a matter of principle," Martinez said. "He told his stepson that if he was right, he would back him all the way."
But others, including Petaluma police, question whether the time and expense is worth it for what amounts to an infraction.
Police were especially irked on Tuesday when an acting court commissioner granted Martinez's request to postpone the trial to give the attorney more time to prepare the case.
Police, in the meantime, spent $5,000 for Stephen Heppe, an expert in communications technology, to attend Tuesday's trial.
Heppe has worked on several satellite programs for NASA, the Air Force and other government agencies. He currently is vice president of avionics for Insitu Group, a Washington-based company that specializes in robotic aircraft.
Heppe could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Sears said police had no choice in retaining Heppe because GPS technology is so new.
"It's not something the average citizen or a police officer could testify to, like we do now with radar," Sears said.
Heppe was already en route to Santa Rosa from Oregon before he was notified the case was postponed. Police likely will be out that money, and have to spend $5,000 more to bring Heppe back if the case goes to trial. Broderick set a February court hearing to determine that date.
"A fair number of people are saying, Why is this guy (Rude) taking it to this level?'" Sears said. "He has a right to do that. Who knows. Maybe five years from now we'll be arguing this case before the Supreme Court.
"I hope not," Sears said.
You can reach Staff Writer Derek J. Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com
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