On average, I get one or two Westlaw alerts a week with judicial decisions that mention ShotSpotter. Today there were three.
None of the cases alone was noteworthy. I have made the point before that most decisions mention ShotSpotter only once, to explain why police were investigating. https://lnkd.in/gPRCnHB5 It is routine evidence. That’s basically what all these were.
In Pittsburgh, it led police to Gerald Underwood, a convicted felon carrying (and shooting) a firearm outside a gas station. That got him charged in federal court. Police found the cartridge casing that he fired. He made admissions. The government intends to introduce ShotSpotter evidence. He wished the court would suppress all that. Nah.
In Chicago, ShotSpotter lead police to Randy Smith (also a felon), who ran when he saw them and threw the gun he was illegally carrying into a garbage can. But a cop saw that. He was convicted in a bench trial of unlawful possession of a firearm. He appealed. Not enough evidence, he said. Yes there was, the appeals court said. https://lnkd.in/gtdmfvbd
(He also argued the law was an unconstitutional infringement of his Second Amendment rights but the court was unpersuaded.)
Finally, in Bakersfield, California, Rafael Lopez Lopez (that’s not a typo) killed a man. Pretty heinous, really. He ambushed a security guard that he felt had slighted him in the past. He shot the man with an AR-15 that had been converted into an illegal machinegun. ShotSpotter detected the gunfire and alerted police, who responded to the scene and collected casings, video, and other evidence. Police identified the suspect quickly and arrested him. He was convicted at trial but raised a claim that the investigating officer displayed racial animus toward him, a violation of California’s Racial Justice Act. No, said the court (and the appeals court agreed). https://lnkd.in/gMg4_YTs
Just wanted to share a few examples of how SoundThinking (formerly ShotSpotter) routinely provides evidence that helps hold criminals accountable.