Cell Site & Delayed Trials – Instruct Your Expert Now

The cell site experts at Footprint Investigations have spent the last few years constantly battling to prepare urgent reports for cases where the trial is either imminent, or already underway. This has changed in the last week or so once the coronavirus hit. A number of trials we have prepared reports for have now been adjourned until 2021. We have taken few new defence instructions which is highly unusual, however prosecution instructions have increased.

Many of the cases we await LAA prior authority on are long trials, mainly drugs conspiracy and murders. These will all now be delayed to future dates unknown. Instructing a cell site expert is now unlikely to be at the top of your priority list. The important point to remember, however, regarding cell site analysis is that if we need to conduct radio frequency surveys then you need to instruct an expert sooner rather than later. The later you leave it to instruct a cell site expert, the more chance you have that there may have been changes made to a cell site by the network provider. We can of course conduct a review of the prosecutions survey data; however, they may not have undertaken surveys at an alibi location for example.

We already see a number of cases where the alleged crime has taken place several years ago. In these cases, we would not usually conduct our own surveys. If you do have a case containing cell site analysis where you either have no trial date or a trial next year then we would urge you to still instruct an expert at the earliest opportunity in order to secure the best evidence as cell site may be pivotal to your case.

If you have a case you would like to discuss please contact Denise Morris on 01527 467467 or email denise@footprintinvestigations.com