Judge to hear appeal in Windsor GPS ticket case

<p>A Windsor teen will get his chance in court to appeal a speeding ticket conviction with data from a global positioning device in his car.</p><p>A judge set a January date to start trial proceedings for Shaun Malone, 17.</p><p>The case is the first in Sonoma County involving GPS being used to contest a speeding ticket.</p><p>Malone was given the ticket in July by a Petaluma police officer who was using a radar gun to check the speed of drivers along Lakeville Highway.</p><p>Malone contested the ticket, saying the GPS tracker in his Toyota Celica showed he was driving the speed limit.</p><p>But a county court commissioner in November found Malone guilty.</p><p>The teen, his mother and stepfather, a retired Sonoma County sheriff's lieutenant, subsequently filed a notice they wanted to appeal. Last week, they were granted a hearing, said Roger Rude, Malone's stepfather.</p><p>"We're very optimistic the outcome of this thing ultimately is going to be Shaun is vindicated," Rude said Tuesday.</p><p>Global positioning systems pinpoint location and speed using satellites. In Malone's case, his speed is recorded every 30 seconds and sent to a computer system at home, alerting his parents if he speeds.</p><p>The radar gun clocked him at 62 mph in a 45-mph zone.</p><p>The GPS showed he was driving 45 mph at virtually the same time and at the same place.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or at randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.</p><p>com.</p>