GPS may support speeding ticket

<p>A GPS system installed on a teenager's car only bolsters the speeding case against him, an expert witness testified Friday.</p><p>"The GPS data doesn't show maximum speed," testified Stephen Heppe of Hood River, Ore., who has a doctorate in electrical engineering and communications. "The GPS data confirms the radar data -- both show that Mr. Malone was speeding."</p><p>Heppe was testifying in the trial of Shaun Malone, 18, who was ticketed by a Petaluma motorcycle officer using radar for going 62 mph in a 45-mph zone on Lakeville Highway.</p><p>It was the third day of trial before Commissioner Carla Bonilla in Sonoma County Superior Court. The trial is to resume Jan. 23 because of scheduling issues.</p><p>The ticket, issued July 4, 2007, would cost $190, but it is being disputed by Malone and his parents, retired Sheriff's Lt. Roger Rude and Karen Kahn of Windsor.</p><p>Malone's parents installed a GPS tracking device on his 2000 Toyota Celica GTS, which shows the teenager's location and speed.</p><p>The GPS unit, manufactured by Rocky Mountain Tracking of Fort Collins, Colo., however, only shows speed and location once every 30 seconds, not in a continuous stream.</p><p>It recorded Malone sitting at a stoplight at Frates Road and 30 seconds later going 45 mph 2,040 feet farther down the road, according to Heppe.</p><p>In between, Petaluma Officer Steve Johnson reportedly caught Malone on radar going 62 mph.</p><p>The distance between the radar reading and when he was recorded going 45 mph is great enough that Malone could have easily slowed down, Heppe testified.</p><p>Heppe used the locations supplied by Rocky Mountain Tracking to plot Malone's route on a Google Earth map, inserting Johnson's position and where he made the radar reading.</p><p>Defense attorney Andy Martinez challenged Heppe's belief that Malone could have been going even faster than 62 mph.</p><p>Martinez suggested the radar reading was inaccurate and was possibly even tracking a different car.</p><p>Martinez also suggested that Heppe, who has already been paid $10,000 by the prosecution to testify, might be manipulating the facts to fit his hypothesis.</p><p>Heppe said, however, the bottom line is that a car cannot travel that distance from a standing stop without going faster than 45 mph.</p><p>"The GPS data and the radar data do not contradict each other," Heppe said. "That is the fundamental realization in this case."</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.</p>