Who’ll Show Up if Siri has to go to Court?

August 15th, 2014. By LucyC

Siri, that often frustrating, sometimes helpful help function embedded on Apple technologies may have her day in court. Of course, the lawyers are still wrangling over whether or not Siri’s potential role in a murder is admissible in court.

When I think of Siri,  I can’t help thinking of that anonymous version played so well by Scarlett Johansson in the recent movie “Her” (Man, was she efficient!) If Johansson’s version of the digital Dora had been on the job, the murder charges against Pedro Bravo might never have materialized. However, that is not the case. And on that note—to the case—the murder trial of Pedro Bravo who allegedly murdered his roommate, friend and fellow student Christian Aguilar and then asked Siri for help on how to hide the body.

The backstory is that Bravo allegedly strangled Aguilar in his SUV while in the parking lot of WalMart. Yes—why do it in the comfort and privacy of your own home? Both men are/were students at the University of Florida. The incident reportedly took place on or around September 20, 2012. After 20-year old Bravo murdered his friend, he is then alleged to have driven to a forest in nearby Levy County to bury Aguilar, whose body was later found with metallic tape looped around his wrists and near his feet.

Original? No. And the reason for that may be Bravo’s virtual accomplice. Apparently, investigators have produced evidence which show that at the time of Aguilar’s murder Bravo woke Siri on his iPhone saying “I need to hide my roommate.” (wonder if the programmers at Apple anticipated that one…)

It must have seemed like a reasonable idea at the time—as reasonable as murdering your roommate for dating your ex-girlfriend.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Siri responded to Bravo’s request, giving suggestions like: “Swamps. Reservoirs. Metal foundries. Dumps.”

Of course cell phone activity is trackable, and apparently prosecutors have presented evidence that Bravo was using his cell phone in locations and times that contradict his alibi.

According to the Gainsville Sun, investigators believe Bravo also activated his iPhone’s flashlight function during the time he was burying Aguilar’s body in the woods. A useful app, by the way—I use mine in to read menus in dimly lit restaurants …

I digress.

So, all this has kicked up a firestorm of controversy over whether or not Siri’s data is admissible in court.

Speaking to the Sun, defense attorney Stephen Bernstein said that the iPhone evidence—including location data obtained by Verizon— should not be shown to a jury because the employee who prepared the data wasn’t called to testify. Bravo has a constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment to confront his accusers in criminal court. This right typically works with the common law rule against allowing hearsay evidence.

So, if Bravo ‘s attorneys are unable to question the Verizon technician(s) who prepared the iPhone/Siri data, including which cell towers Bravo’s iPhone connected to the night of the murder, Bravo could argue he has no way to test the reliability of that evidence. In which case, Bravo’s camp may be able to appeal the introduction of the cell site data, which is currently a matter of contention in federal court.

But what about Siri? Apparently, if the data is not unduly prejudicial (how could the statement “I need to hide my roommate” not be?) and is not offered to prove the allegation that Bravo did effectively make the request of Siri, (how would that work?) then the Siri evidence may be properly admitted. Um.

So, is Siri a virtual accomplice? I think not, but at some point all this smart technology really could end up burying the lot of us.

Tags: admissible in court, Murder, Siri, Totally Tortelicious

This was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2014 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Totally Tortelicious . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.