“The records only prove that Special Counsel Wade’s phone call was located somewhere within a several-mile radius of a densely populated area where various residences, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and other businesses are located.” Willis’ motion said.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers say they relied on data collected from Mr. Wade’s cellphone and cell phone tower communications to track his movements.. But at least one expert interviewed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution questioned the accuracy of the cell phone data findings. Some said the technique is generally accepted in court cases across the country and is considered reliable.
If true, they could contradict Wade’s testimony last week that he visited Willis less than 10 times at her Hapeville apartment before being hired in November 2021. It also shows that Wade twice arrived in the area late at night and left early the next morning, months before Willis and Wade announced their relationship had turned romantic in early 2022.
Wade and Willis testified last week that they did not spend the night together at the Hapeville condo.
Timeline of Willis and Wade’s relationship is important for two reasons. Fulton’s policy focuses specifically on her family, but she says if they were a couple before she hired him, she could have violated at least the spirit of the anti-nepotism rules. The possibility increases. More importantly, both Willis and Wade have testified under oath that their relationship began in 2022. If the defense attorney can prove that he lied under oath, he may be guilty of perjury.
Friday’s court filing includes an affidavit from longtime defense attorney Charles Mittelstadt. He said he obtained cell phone data from AT&T through his subpoena.
Mittelstadt said he used the online tool CellHawk to determine where Wade spent time in 2021. “CellHawk is considered by law enforcement to be the gold standard for cell phone records analysis,” Mittelstadt said, noting that CellHawk has been used by law enforcement throughout 2021. America and Georgia.
Willis and Wade called each other more than 2,000 times and exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages in the first 11 months of 2021, according to the affidavit.
Mr Mittelstadt said he focused on a case in which Mr Wade’s cellphone was connected to a tower near Mr Willis’ Hapeville address for an extended period of time, confirming that he was stationary rather than moving. He said he did the same to determine when Wade was at his home in East Cobb County.
On one occasion, on September 11, 2021, Wade’s phone left the Doraville area and arrived near Willis’ Hapeville address at 10:45 p.m. The phone remained there until 3:28 a.m., after which it was seen arriving at East Cobb, the affidavit states at 4:05 a.m., just before Wade texted Willis. .
Similarly, the affidavit states that Wade left the East Cobb area on the night of Nov. 29, 2021, after receiving a call from Willis at 11:32 p.m. He arrived in Hapeville at 12:43 a.m. and remained there until 4:55 a.m., the affidavit added.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Steve Sadow and Jennifer Little, said in a filing that Mr. Mittelstadt is “available to testify at the convenience of the court.”
Mittelstadt said in the affidavit that he used “conservative geofencing” (a virtual perimeter around a location) by isolating the two cell phone towers closest to his Hapeville home. Ta. One tower is 2,000 feet away and his other tower is 3,000 feet away. This all-encompassing area may include several restaurants near the home, and he is also less than a mile away from numerous hotels that serve the airport.
Although the Hapeville home is within three miles of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Mittelsat said analysis has ruled out the possibility that the phone was inside the airport.
Experts offered varying opinions on the investigators’ analysis.
John Acevedo, a professor at Emory University who specializes in criminal law, said it is “called the gold standard in software.”
“It’s one of the most used software in the country, and it’s very well-received and accepted,” Acevedo told the AJC. “The analysis (of Wade’s cell phone data) seems to be in place. I think we need to hear from him about what he was doing in the area that day.”
But Paul Steffes, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology who testified about cellphone location data at trial, said he had reason to doubt the defendant’s investigators’ conclusions.
Steffes reviewed the summary of the investigation contained in the affidavit filed Friday, although he said the underlying data used in the agency’s analysis must be reviewed before making any final conclusions. He said he did.
There is no conclusive evidence that Wade visited Willis’ Hapeville condo, and at best, the evidence seems to indicate that Wade was in a 9-square-mile area that includes Willis’ condo, Steffes said.
The data also doesn’t prove Wade stayed in one place, he added, and could have been driving around the area. “It sounds to me like these people are inexperienced and don’t understand the limitations of the data and tools they’re using.
Willis echoed Steffes’ criticism in a response late Friday.
“The records do not in any way prove the content of any communications between Special Counsel Wade and District Attorney Willis. They do not prove that Special Counsel Wade was at any particular location or address. does not prove that Special Counsel Wade and District Attorney Willis were in the same location at the times listed. [in the exhibit]” Willis’ motion stated..
In fact, the motion states that Willis was not at home on multiple dates and times cited in the defense’s analysis. She provided a copy of the calendar entry to support her claim. That included entries she said showed she was in the office or at the scene of a murder crime.
Willis’ motion argued, among other things, that the defense’s evidence should not be admitted into evidence because the defendant violated the court’s rules regarding disclosure of expert testimony. She claimed that this evidence was “clearly inadmissible and of little probative value” and “merely an attempt to gain media attention.”
Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will decide whether to admit Mittelstadt’s affidavit and phone records into evidence.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Former DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said cell phone data raises questions.
“People might see this and be suspicious,” James said. “But in court, you need evidence. The real question is, was there evidence that there was a romantic relationship at the time, but I don’t think this is evidence that there was a romantic relationship. It doesn’t mean they already had a relationship. It proves the acknowledged relationship.”
At Sadow’s Feb. 15 hearing, Willis said he visited Wade’s Hapeville condo prior to hiring him in November 2021. One time, Mr. Willis received food from Lickety Split Southern Kitchen & Bar, and he recalled the time he brought it to him. He takes it to his apartment.
As for how many times Wade visited her in 2021, Willis testified, “I don’t think about it often, but I don’t think about it. I don’t want to speculate.”
When asked by Sadow for a number, Willis replied, “Let’s say it’s more than 10, but I don’t know if that’s accurate. He certainly picked me up and went to get food. He I don’t remember being in that condo very often.”
Willis testified that no one ever spent the night with her at the Hapeville condo, except perhaps one of her daughters once.
At the beginning of that hearing, Sadow asked Wade how often he had visited Willis’ condominium up until November 2021. Wade testified that he did not do more than 10 times.
Sadow suggested that phone records could prove that Wade was there for more than he disclosed.
“So, if your phone records reflect that you made multiple calls from the same location as your apartment complex before November 1, 2021, does that mean your phone records are incorrect? ?” Sadow asked Wade.
“What if the phone records reflect that? Yes, sir,” Wade replied.
“They’re wrong, aren’t they?” Sadow asked.
“They would be wrong,” Wade replied.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Wade said he could have been in the Hapeville area for a variety of reasons. He said he may have visited the Porsche Experience Center, the airport, Delta Air Lines headquarters or a local restaurant.
Wade testified that he never spent the night in Willis’ condo.
At the hearing, Willis and Wade’s testimony was contradicted by Robin Yearty, a former prosecutor colleague and friend who had allowed Willis to sublet the Hapeville condo.
Yearty testified at the hearing that there was “no question” that Willis and Wade began a romantic relationship soon after they met in 2019. She also testified that she saw the two being affectionate, “hugging and kissing.”
Mr. Willis and Mr. Yearty testified that they had a falling out in 2022 after Mr. Yearty left the DA’s office due to poor performance, and the two have not spoken since then. Prosecutors sought to frame Ierty as a disgruntled former employee who could come into conflict with Willis.
Willis owns a home in South Fulton, but moved in early 2021 due to safety concerns. Her father, who lived with her for a time, testified that people showed up outside her home last week and kept shouting expletives and racial epithets at Willis.
Willis’ father, John Clifford Floyd III, said the situation was so bad that police regularly showed up at the house with bomb-sniffing dogs. Willis moved out of his home and into a condo rented by Yearty.
Staff writer Rosie Manins contributed to this report.
