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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Blair County judge said Friday that she will appoint a cellphone data and location expert to assist three defense attorneys in evaluating evidence against their clients facing homicide and related criminal charges in the shooting death of 37-year-old Steven L. Hackney in Altoona.
Part of the evidence in support of the charges against Kahif Omar Ellis, Taylor A. Griffith and Qasim L. Sharif Green was generated by using CellHawk computer software, reflecting cellphone and cellphone tower data to identify the defendants' locations on the day Hackney was shot.
"We're not so sure that it has passed the Frye test," defense attorney Tom Dickey said Friday in reference to a Frye hearing, a court proceeding to decide if novel scientific evidence should be admitted into a trial.
Deciding locations by using algorithms and formulas to analyze cellphone and cellphone tower data could be pseudo-science, Dickey suggested within written pre-trial motions filed Friday on Green's behalf.
First Assistant District Attorney Pete Weeks told Judge Elizabeth Doyle, who met Friday with attorneys in preparation to take the case to trial, that he was aware of authorities deeming this kind of data to be admissible but none addressing the science behind it.
This kind of evidence has generated some legal debate and conflicting rulings, The Associated Press reported in 2016, including one based on misinterpretation of data for failure to understand why a cellphone pings a particular cellphone tower.
Defense attorney Robert Donaldson, who represents Ellis, advised Doyle that he may submit an additional pre-trial motion to address the use of CellHawk software, after further review of testimony at Ellis' preliminary hearing. That's where it was revealed how police used Griffith's and Ellis' cellphones to place the pair near Hackey's residence at 124 Walnut Ave., just before and after he was shot. Police also depended on that technology to determine that the couple fled Altoona and headed to Philadelphia where Ellis lived.
When Doyle asked if she needed to consider appointing more than one expert for the defendants, Donaldson said probably not.
Defense attorney Mark Zearfaus, who represents Griffith, was not in the courtroom when Doyle made the inquiry. But later during Friday's proceedings, the judge advised Zearfaus of her decision to appoint an expert who would be available to the defendants.
Zearfaus, so far, has filed no pre-trial motions on Griffith's behalf, and he declined Friday to comment on why.
Dickey's pre-trial motions indicate that Griffith is cooperating with prosecutors. While she and Ellis remain incarcerated, Dickey's motion indicates that their "intimate relationship" as paramours will prompt Griffith to minimize Ellis' role in a way that harms Green. For that reason, Dickey is asking Doyle to sever Green's case so Green's charges can be evaluated fairly.
The district attorney's office has already filed a notice with the court to join the cases, and Weeks advised Doyle on Friday that he remains ready to support that position.
Dickey is also taking issue with what he maintains was an illegal seizure and search of Green's cellphone and Facebook postings. While Altoona police secured a search warrant for the searches, Dickey is finding fault with the procedures, including the faxing of the warrant to a toll-free number in California.
The next court date to review the status of the cases and potential arguments is scheduled May 29 in anticipation of jury selection on July 2.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.