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Arsonist's Pacemaker Rats Him Out; Police Subpoenaed Logs

posted by janrinok on Friday February 03 2017, @10:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-have-no-privacy;-get-over-it dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

Cory Doctorow reports via Boing Boing

Ross Compton, a 59-year-old homeowner in Middletown, Ohio called 911 in September 2016 to say that his house was on fire; there were many irregularities to the blaze that investigators found suspicious, such as contradictory statements from Compton and the way that the fire had started.

In the ensuing investigation, the police secured a warrant for the logs from his pacemaker, specifically, "Compton's heart rate, pacer demand, and cardiac rhythms before, during, and after the fire".

[...] The data from the pacemaker didn't correspond with Compton's version of what happened.

[...] [The cops] subsequently filed charges of felony aggravated arson and insurance fraud.

Cory links to coverage by Network World.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday February 03 2017, @03:03PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 03 2017, @03:03PM (#462395) Journal

    But the data failing to correspond, on its own, is not a reason to convict him, nor even necessarily to suspect him.

    And what, if not a contradiction between his claims and the facts, could possibly be a reason to suspect him? Well, OK, if he himself said he did it. But you don't only want to catch those criminals who confess all by themselves, right?

    If they can prove he committed arson, then fine

    The necessary precondition of them proving that he committed arson is that they suspect him. Because that's the only justification for even trying to prove that.

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