Michael Knecht

Michael Knecht testified for the State as a Verizon records custodian, authenticating cellular records for Alex, Maggie, Paul, Claude Rowe, Marty Cook, Rogan Gibson, Connor Cook, and Buster Murdaugh. Knecht then explained fields showing call time, direction, duration, network technology, towers, and cell faces.

Applying those fields, Knecht testified that an incoming call to Maggie's number at 9:04:24 p.m. went to voicemail and contained no tower information on her side of the record. Alex's corresponding record showed an outgoing call to her number with tower information. Knecht identified 7:50 p.m. as Maggie's last outgoing call and said the later incoming calls he reviewed were unanswered and routed to voicemail.

On cross-examination, Knecht corrected several proposed descriptions of Verizon's MO, MT, and MF call codes. He also addressed separately produced text-message records, Verizon's approximate 18-month retention period for detailed billing records, and the limits of network-ringing information. He explained that audible ringing may reflect the network attempting to locate a phone rather than the phone itself physically ringing, and he could not determine the full scope of the search warrant without reviewing it.

On redirect and recross, Knecht further defined the limits of the records. He said the same voicemail entry could result when a phone rang unanswered, was turned off, or was otherwise disconnected, so the entry did not establish the phone's condition. He also testified that the reviewed data contained tower information rather than specific GPS data and declined to interpret cell-tower triangulation because it was outside his qualifications.