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personpersonDevin NewellDevin NewellGeneral Motors representative who explained GM telematics collection and authenticated vehicle-data records.← All People
Witness

Devin Newell

Courtroom still of Devin Newell.

General Motors representative who explained GM telematics collection and authenticated vehicle-data records.

Appeared2023 Murder Trial
37 lines·2 proceedings

About

Devin Newell testified for the State as a General Motors technical witness, explaining how modern GM vehicles can transmit information through cellular or Wi-Fi networks to company servers. He described the types of information that may be stored, including diagnostic codes, battery information, GPS location, timestamps, and speed.

Newell said GM had learned the previous Friday that additional records responsive to a March SLED search warrant existed but had not previously been supplied to law enforcement. He authenticated a CD containing three spreadsheets collected over three days. He did not interpret what the entries showed.

On cross-examination, Newell acknowledged that he had not been involved when the warrant arrived and had learned of the matter only days before his testimony. GM's legal staff had asked him to authenticate the records, but he had not reviewed the specific data and knew no details of the FBI's examination or asserted reverse-engineering work. His testimony provided a foundation for the records and general technical context rather than a record-specific analysis.

Trial Record (2)

20232023 Murder TrialJan 23, 2023 – Mar 3, 2023Called by prosecution

Devin Newell explained GM's collection of vehicle telematics and authenticated newly located data spreadsheets for the State. Cross-examination established that he had joined the matter only days earlier and had not analyzed the specific records or the FBI's work.

Day 17

DirectDevin Newell - DirectDevin NewellJohn B. Conrad3highlights25lines spoken

Summary

General Motors technical expert Devin Newell authenticated newly located vehicle telematics records containing diagnostic, GPS, and speed information; State's Exhibit 515 was admitted without objection.

Highlights (3)

Quote“Yeah, that's correct. I wasn't necessarily involved in the search warrant back in March, but I did become aware Friday evening that additional information not previously given before existed.”— Devin NewellNewell disclosed that GM had only recently located additional records responsive to the earlier search warrant.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“Yes, that's correct. I reviewed the three spreadsheets, Excel files that were on here, and those are, in fact, the same information that was stored in our databases and provided to you. And, yes, I can authenticate that.”— Devin NewellThis testimony supplied the authentication foundation for the digital records admitted as State's Exhibit 515.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“Yeah. There's three different Excel sheets, information collected over three days. Again, as I kind of talked, I have not reviewed the details of this. I was not asked to analyze it. The form and content is what we get there. But generally speaking, that information includes, it says vehicle diagnostic information, information on the battery systems, and GPS information.”— Devin NewellNewell identified the dataset's general contents while expressly limiting his testimony to authentication rather than analysis.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossDevin Newell - CrossDevin NewellPhillip D. Barber2highlights12lines spoken

Summary

Devin Newell said he was recently assigned only to authenticate General Motors records, had not reviewed the specific vehicle data, and knew no details of the FBI's reverse-engineering work.

Highlights (2)

Quote“GM, General Motors' legal staff reached out to me in response to the subpoena as a person who could come down and authenticate these records.”— Devin NewellNewell explained that his role was to authenticate the recently identified records rather than to testify as their original collector or analyst.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“Again, I have not reviewed this specific data, but the timestamps of these things here, when GPS information is collected by a GPS receiver, included in that is timestamp information.”— Devin NewellNewell qualified his technical explanation by emphasizing that he had not reviewed the specific data at issue.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶