Dwight Falkofske

FBI electronics engineer Dwight Falkofske testified for the State. He described extracting information from automotive-system memory and converting binary data into readable records. Because commercial software did not support the encrypted infotainment and OnStar modules in the 2021 Chevrolet Suburban, an FBI team used an identically configured test vehicle to recover encryption keys and spent approximately one year developing a parser.

On direct examination, Falkofske presented call-log and vehicle-state information recovered from the Suburban. The records included 911-related call entries and several changes between in-park and out-of-park states, including an interval of approximately sixteen minutes beginning shortly after 9:06 p.m. He cautioned that the call logs did not show when information was downloaded from the connected phone, and the park-state records did not establish whether the vehicle moved or who occupied it. He also could not explain why an out-of-park entry after 10:13 p.m. lacked a matching return-to-park message.

On cross-examination, Falkofske acknowledged that his unit had not sought assistance from General Motors, had not identified every event capable of waking the infotainment system, and had not tested whether approaching with a key fob could cause a startup. He described same-second engine messages as confusing but said they appeared to show the engine running. He declined to validate a defense device-history printout until reviewing its source material, then explained that paired devices could connect automatically and confirmed that the recovered data contained no vehicle-location information for June 7.