Crime & high-profile cases
The Automated Witness in the Murdaugh Appeal
10 min
An exploration of how proprietary algorithms in Alex Murdaugh's vehicle and phone became the primary eyewitnesses in his trial, and how the defense is now challenging the 'black box' logic that led to his conviction.
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Show notes
Murdaugh's twenty twenty-one Chevrolet Suburban functioned as a neutral witness by logging precise gear changes and movements.
Telemetry data proved Murdaugh's vehicle was taken out of park at nine zero six p.m. on the night of the murders.
Defense teams are legally barred from auditing the proprietary source code used to generate forensic vehicle reports.
A mid-trial dump of forty-eight hundred new data points challenged the fairness of the original legal proceedings.
Acoustic sensors and vehicle logs can mistake car backfires or closing doors for gunshots and movement.
Courts operate under a presumption that computer systems function correctly, creating an asymmetry of arms for the defense.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Silicon Eyewitness2 min
- 3The Black Box Problem3 min
- 4The Shot Detection Logic2 min
- 5The Future of Digital Testimony2 min
- 6Outro1 min
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