Expert explains "black box" at trooper trial

Although the black box shows the trooper may have not stopped this is not necessarily contradictory to his statement. If he suffered from head trauma he may have suffered from retrograde amnesia which is the loss of memory prior to a traumatic event. Since could not remember what has happen his brain filled in the gap.

Jean, what is your take on the behavior of the judge on this case? I have been watching on line, so really gavel to gavel and I find him completely unprofessional and the worst biased (anti-defense) judge I have ever seen covered on TV. It seems there are MANY issues the defense can bring up on appeal simply because of this judge's behavior. Your take?...ps would this case have been tried if it had been an ambulance instead of a cop?

Police and EMS drivers are trained drivers and we are all told explicitly that the public safety comes first. It is a know fact with all the emergency drivers that the braking before the intersection is suppose to bring you to a crawl so that you have time to make eye to eye contact with all other driver and then you can proceed with caution. He is not blind or is he stupid, he saw the sign that is why he hit the brake and saw the traffic and assumed they would stop. This happens all the time with, unfortunately this time this trooper did not get away with it.

There are police officers who thinks they are above the law and some would go far as to lie on their reports and this tarnishes the departments integrity. People have lost faith in the law enforcements.

The evidence from the black box is only one part of the calculus equation. Why is there no attention being paid to the amount of damage on each vehicle – perhaps this may more accurately the true speed of both vehicles at impact.

There are so many excuses for the trooper. Head trauma my foot. He needs to take responsibility for his actions. If it had been a civilian, he would have already been found guilty. Someone needs to police the police!!!

When a patient dies during a medical treatment,a Doctor can be sued and may lose his license. A Police Officer should not face criminal charges while performing his duties if a unforeseen tradegy takes place. They should not be treated like people who intentionally hurt people.Many times in Police work you are not afforded the time to second guess your actions.

Sorry, but I just bawlwd when I heard about this senseless accident !!!!!!............all for pursuing a speeder, .......he should not get away with this, police officers have to abey the stop signs like all of us!!!!!.........he killed those girls speeding to catch that speeder , JUST FOR A DANG SPEEDING TICKET. I feel soooooo bad for the girls family, they were very pretty girls and having their lives cut so short, SHAME ON HIM

Funny now the Defense Attorney says the officer is not in a high speed chase and pursuit because his lights are not on yet. Ok, So why is he running a stop sign and doing 65 through the intersection if he is not in a high speed pursuit or chase of a speeder. His words!

Police Officers are involved in numerous accidents throughout the United States. How many lives have to be lost before we reign them in. It is a shame that Officer Higbee is on the hot seat but their behavior has got to stop. If he was following his procedures why did he have to lie about stopping.
This Officer knows the area and should know the rules. He created an unsafe situation for the people he is sworn to protect.
When you get stopped for going through a stop sign you have no excuse ticket points, you could have killed someone by your actions.

to D. Sargent..............If an ambulance had done this, I would not think there would be a trial. I 'm sure we are or should be aware, that when anyone hears an ambulance siren, we are to slow down and stop off the road or highway and let the ambulance hurry on his way, that is the LAW !!! .........they are not required to stop at stop signs with their sirens on, only when they don't have their sirens on.

Hi, I for one am getting tired of hearing all of the ex/police defend this patrolman. The retired officer that was just on TV talking about turning on overhead lights on causing more accidents is ridiculous if that were true then EMS/FIRE would cause countless accidents. I have had emergency veh. training and was taught to safely get to the scene because if we don't make it we can't help someone else.
JOHNNY S./S.C.

I agree with D. Sargent, I also watch many trials gavel to gavel, this judge appears to be bias against the defense. There will be many appoaches for an appeal. Mr. Higbee was horribly negligent in his pursuit of the speeder, he is guilty.

Where is the family being held accountable at all? The girls should never have been out that nite with a learners permit, a provisional liscense, and not wearing a seat belt. This is a terrible accident, but there are other people here that should be held accountable. It is against the law to have a driver with just a learners permit to be riding with someone who is under 21 and only has a provisional liscense. It is also against the law not to wear a seatbelt in NJ. Maybe those girls would be alive today if they also had followed the law. Our hearts and prayers go out to both families. This was an accident, the trooper does not belong in jail.

I don't undersand the experts wanting to give the young man in the third vehicle a free lunch. He and his Dad are suing the state and trooper (I assume). He testified the trooper accelerated thru the intersection..which is wrong according to the black box..He is clearly testifying to support his lawsuit as a conviction of reckless driving would help them.

I think that trooper Higbee should be convicted. He killed two young women who had their whole lives ahead of them. Nothing will be able to bring them back and Higbee is responsible for their senseless and tragic deaths.

The expert said higbee was speeding 79.6 MPH right before the accident. I live in Marmora and just don't understand why Higbee would be so reckless in a residential area. He knew about wayside village shoping center which is located at the intersection ....he would eat breakfast there according to the workers. All this reckless driving to chase an alleged speeder ? this just does not add up....

Oh, people, with respect to the black box, if there is a conviction it will be overturned. Scientific evidence has to be properly tested and peer reviewed, and it has not been done with this technology. The expert himself said that the only testing they've done on the box are NOT under crash scenarios, so they have no idea that the box properly performs, retains information, or remains calibrated in a crash scenario. This black box was never intended to be used for this purpose in the first place. It may be a good way to go in the future, but first things first. Get the product tested for crash tests, have the proper peer review and expert papers on it as all other sciences are required to have before experts can testify in court. Remember, this black box was not ever intended then or even now for the purpose in which they are using it in this trial. Bad science.

to P Grillo – After an accident perceptions may not be reality, and you have to give the officer the benefit of the doubt. His mind may have been going in that very split second to knowing he needed to stop but it was too late, and in his mind he had stopped. When things happen in such fast motion, it's easy to pick it apart in slow motion as we are doing here, but it's really not fair. As for knowing the road, you have to remember that state troopers are responsible for the entire state, though they are assigned a portion of the state, it is still a VAST area. They are not "beat cops" as you see on the tv who know the clerk behind the convenience store counter and their habits so they spot the odd behavior and know they are being robbed. State troopers and County Sheriffs have vast, vast areas to cover. It takes years and years for them to have that same familiararity that a beat cop with a much smaller grid does. I know there are bad cops, but the vast majority of them are good people with good hearts, good intentions and a courageous heart. Please don't lose sight of that. Be wary of those whose behavior individually deserves it but don't paint all with the same broad brush!

Why hasn't anyone from the Cape May County Prosecutors Office taken the stand? Lt. Eugene Taylor conducted the investigation, where is he?

Why won't the Prosecutor allow the reconstrunction report by Sergeant McMahon or the second independent report by Jeremy Daily into evidence?

Why won't the Medical Examiner take the stand? Too busy, don't buy into that one.

The Beckers were speeding 49 MPH without cause and one of them was unrestrained, how will those factors effect the dynamics?

Why won't Judge Batten allow the fact that Upper Township requested changes to that intersection from CapeMay County PRE-CRASH into the trial?

Why wouldn't Judge Alvarez allow this case to be re-presented to a Grand Jury after they were improperly charged on the difference between careless and reckless and the difference between negligence and recklessness?

Why did the Cape May County Prosecutor pay $200 per hour for Mr. Ruth? Mr. Ruth falsified his credentials, misrepresented speed, distance and time in his calculations. Admitted to havinga "bad memory" on the stand. Never conducted a crash reconstruction before this crash by himself. Actually was in the middle of the training needed for reconstruction when he came and investigated this crash. Admits that he wrote the disclaimer for Ford about the EDR data being not to be used for crash data. Will not testify against Ford (unbiased?). The EDr devices have never been crash tested by either Ford or him. Has a website that proclaims

"Event Data Recorder Readout
An on duty policeman was alleged to be traveling a high rate of speed allegedly not called for by the situation. A civilian vehicle pulled out in front of the officer and a serious collision followed resulting in serious personal injury to the civilian. I consulted with the investigating agency, advised them that there were not one but two electronic modules with potentially relevant data within the vehicle, and explained how to remove the modules without spoliating evidence. I performed a forensically neutral readout of both modules, and interpreted the data for the investigating agency. The readouts objectively showed the officer’s driving behavior prior to impact. "

But he couldn't remember where this case was.

This case is heading for a second disaster, but this one won't be by accident.

We want the police to do this, we want them to do that, when they don't we complain, when they do we complain......what are they supposed to do????? If the speeder had hit the girls in this intersection and killed them, you would be jumping up and down that the police should have done something. The public is NEVER satisfied. They make mistakes just like all of you/us. Costly yes! If the speeder could have been found, this speeder should be charged as well......

The trooper will get away with it, no doubt.. In 1987 my 7 year old daughter was killed as a result of an off duty New Orleans police officer who was a drunk driver. My 2 year old daughter was hospitalized for 4 months, most of that time in a coma. He also (the cop) was suspended without pay pending outcome of criminal trial.. He was found not guilty, and recived all the 2 years back pay.. It was disgusting and devastating to me!!! His lawyer claimed the hospital that took his blood alcohol level"s equitment was out of date.. It was a new hospital.. We even had the EMT'S SAYING he reeked of alcohol.. still disgusted 22 years later... thanks Susan McGuire

Not guilty. Tragedy, but an accident while on duty. Some facts are indisputable, and there was some error of judgement, but it was an ACCIDENT. Clean tox, on duty...an accident. Do not be a "hater", and learn all the facts before you decide to "throw away the key" on a good officer.

I didn't find the black box testimony to be as conclusive as it might seem. What were the controls around the process of downloading and sequencing the data? The expert witness did not perform this work himself, nor did he or anyone else working on the black box actually inspect the trooper car to see if the tires were the same size as installed at the factory. Technology is great, but as we all know, when you put garbage in, you get garbage out.

Firstly I have trouble with this Trooper being put on leave without pay. It has taken so long to get to Trial it must be a hardship that the County should not have put him through. As to the accident, lets remember that a veh travelling 60 mph covers 88ft/sec. He was chasing at least a Speeder. Or was he running because of something else? From what I hear the girls in the white van had no seat belts on as they were ejected. (contributory negligence), they were speeding too, (contributory negligence), what was their toxicolgy results?? No one else involved in this accident seemed to see the white van, (no lights on? more contributory negligence). Proximate cause is still the Speeder. No chase, no accident. This Trooper is "not guilty".

I would like court t.v. to ask this question of there viewers.should the closing the gap law be changed? there is at least one death per day in the u.s. this price is way too high .lets change the law an save inocent lives. after all isn,t that what a peace officer is supposed to be doing.If anything good comes out of this trial,lets get this law changed.

Gary, closing the gap serves a purpose that in this case seems to be a bad idea, but it really is a good idea. In this case, it wasn't just a matter of a speeder, is was that the car also did not have its headlights on, so that's important. The closing the gap rule is necessary because when you are in pursuit, you need to be able to keep the object of your pursuit in your sights. You have to be able to know what they are doing and determine if the pursuit needs to be called off, if they've crashed and call an ambulance, spike strips, all kinds of different scenarios. The reason you get close before you turn on the overhead lights/sirens is that once those go on, you are notifying that driver that you are pulling them over. If you are at a distance, your intent to all drivers is not clear. It's only once you are close enough to the offending driver and then turn on the lights that your intent to pull over THAT vehicle is clear. Then if they don't pull over, it becomes a pursuit. You also will know who they are by then as you will have a proper description and license plate number. That can tell you a lot there too. Is the car stolen? A wanted felony vehicle? Is the registered owner a wanted felon?

You also put that driver on notice. If they are sketchy and you are at a distance, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain to elude you and they are dangerous to other drivers. If you are close, they may not decide to run even if they are sketchy. So, there are valid reasons why the gap has to first be closed before you put them on notice that you are pulling them over. Just like when police are responding to an armed bank robbery, once they get a certain distance away, they turn off their sirens so as not to alert the bank robbers they are there, for fear they will then take hostages.

Police also have to be able to enumerate violations and driver behavior when attempting to pull over a vehicle or if they end up going in pursuit as evidence later. You can't begin to do that if you are too far away to get that information. So, there are reasons and believe it or not, it is for public safety. You have to remember that this accident is an anomoly. When you consider that police are driving thousands of miles a day, the number of accidents are actually very low considering alllll the miles they travel each day. And the number of accidents during pursuits is also very low considering how many they are in each day.

to Susan McGuire – I am so very sorry for your loss. Drunk drivers are the worst. I truly don't understand why people drive drunk at all. I did a ride along with an officer and he arrested a drunk driver in a single car accident. While the suspect was in the backseat I told him the next time, go get all the alcohol you can possibly consume and then some, all the food and cigarettes you need and anything else, then stay home and get as plastered as you want, but stay home! No one truly gets away with what they've done. Everything bad that happens to that officer until the day he dies, he'll reflect back and know that bad things are coming back to him because of what he did. Then he'll have to face his maker.

But this case, this police officer, this man, husband, father and fellow human being deserves to be judged on these facts, not every bad thing every other police officer while on duty or off has done. If you were in his shoes, you would not want to be judged for anything other than the case at hand.

I once went to court for a speeding ticket. The road, and direction, I was traveling had a speed limit of 40 MPH, the other side of the same road (incidentally, in a different legal jurisdiction, i.e. a different township) had a speed limit of 35 MPH. Both police depts. enforce traffic laws on that road. I told the court I was driving approximately 40 MPH. The officer countered, mistakenly, that the speed limit was 35 MPH in that direction. I argued the officer was incorrect about the speed limit in that direction. The judge subsequently found me guilty; in response, I offered to drive the judge to the location I was cited for speeding to show him the signs. The judge stated, "it is the officer's job to know the speed limit and traffic control signs of that area,..." which he stated is why he found me guilty. But he would drive home that way and check. If the signs were as I said they were he would find me not guilty and refund my fine and court costs. I immediately thereafter went to double check the signs and they were as I stated in court. The violation was never posted on my driving record and I never received "points" against my license, I also never received my money back or notification of being found not guilty either.

Plain and simple, it is the Trooper's job to know how to drive safely in any conditions and to know the traffic control measures (speed limits, stop, yield, warning signs, street markings, lane markings, passing zones, etc.) in place where he is enforcing the traffic laws. Trooper Higbee was grossly negligent in doing so to the point he caused the deaths of two innocent citizens, demolished their vehicle, a state vehicle, and exposed the state to a civil wrongful death lawsuit, all over an alleged speeding violation. Death over a speeding ticket in the dark, at a dimly lit intersection, while running a stop sign, plus the Trooper lied on video about stopping and his speed. Am I the only one that thinks this trooper used horribly bad judgement in the performance of his duties that night? If this guy gets found not guilty there is no justice. He has no excuse for driving that way, at that place, time, and conditions, in violation of his training and should be fired and jailed for his actions. Also he should never be a law enforcement officer anywhere since he has starkly demonstrated a grossly negligent lack of ability to safely perform such duties without causing innocent people's deaths.

This whole trial is a travesty. The family ought to be suing the state of New Jersey. How many of us live in states where law enforcement can chase someone without lights flashing and siren wailing? I have lived in 5 states and 1 other country. Believe me, they all used the flashing lights and siren to warn oncoming drivers & drivers they were trying to pass to catch an offender! The law that New Jersey is using is very dangerous and actually led to this tragedy! How dare a state think it is above the law and ignore the fact that this accident was caused because law enforcement does not have to use flashing lights and siren when "closing the gap" to catch a law breaker. How dare New Jersey put one of their law enforcement officers on trial for the state's horrible mistake. And never mind that apparently everyone knew this intersection was dangerous and deadly, but ignored this fact!

police officers should be accountable for the same laws we are.i cannot bealive a traffic ticket was more important than the lives of these two young ladies.

I with you Sarah B!! This should not be a court case. The parents already did a civil suit and won. Officers are going to have to pull out their books to know when they can stop a speeder (who usually is hiding something or the person would not be speeding). This world is falling apart big time.

even the police are not above the law, one fact that aAmericans need to remember, what if it was our child/sister killed by a reckless police officer be hind the wheel?

guilty

First the trooper had no idea why the car was speeding. Could have been anything from a murder suspect to a speeder. When the trooper turns around several things happen. He is trying to maintain a visual on the violator, communicating on the radio as to location, attempting to watch for hazards, and sometimes tunnel vision occurs. Also in his mind is why is this car traveling at this speed , will he stop and if he does is this the driver that will try to kill him. This is a horrible accident and the prosecutor and judge Batten are attempting to further their political careers. The comment was made that the prosecutor thought it a lie when trooper Higbee said he thought he stopped. He may have thought he stopped. One thing is sure if we tried every politician that lies we would not have anyone in government.

I would like to know how can you "Hover ON the brake" Doesn't hover mean to stay above but not touch, as in a helicopter hovering overhead? He may have taken his foot off the gas and "Covered" the brake and yet not have depressed it. The amount of distance it would take for his car to stop is in direct relationship to his speed as the brakes are applied {if they even were.} What the black box shows me is that he took his foot off the gas and the car slowed slightly due to drag and gravity not by any breaking action by the trooper.
This closing the gap seems to be a loophole to justify speeding.

The officer previously on the stand testified that a stop sign holds the same meaning weather you're driving around on your private time or you're on duty & either closing the gap or in a pursuit. Well that's not true. We have cop reality TV now and not once, ever have I seen a cop car that was either closing the gap or in pursuit stop at a stop sign. Maybe the defense should bring in a few of these cop reality shows and show how they not only drive at a very high rate of speed, but they never stop at the stop signs.

Rose- I like your 'blame the victims' approach. It shows that you are a truley kind and compassionate human being. I honestly hope that you nor any of your loved ones are ever the victims of a senseless, completely avoidable crime, especially if they can in any way be seen as partially responsible for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you also believe taht women who wear mini skirts or provocotive tops are asking to be raped? Too bad those 2 young women DIED, or perhaps we could ticket, fine and possibly imprison THEM.

I found it most interesting that trooper Higbee was taking notes yesterday and writing right to left .Did i miss something?
thanks

to d sargent – how can you say that a driver has nothing to lose by fleeing from a police officer? The rules are in place regarding a scenario such as this, and they were clearly not followed, if we condone cutting corners as a routine measure, we lose order. If officers are allowed to circumvent the rules in place, then who are the rules meant to govern? Throw away the book and stamp IMMUNITY on all cases involving police. That would save time and money.

There was a comment about looking at the facts. This is a dimly lit road at night. Testimony has verified the the girls headlight switch was on. The only way you can not notice headlights on a dimly lit road at night is if you do not even glance in that direction. Nothing else matters. Criminal negligence.

Thank you d Sargent.. Nothing will ever bring back those 2 girls!! Its much more than an accident!! They are gone forever! Their is only one person here at fault, no matter what, and thats the police officer. Even if he was a model citizen and officer.

I can't think of any intersection, unless it's in an extremely rural area, that doesn't have traffic signs. They either instruct you to STOP, YIELD or some other operating instruction. My problem with this case is that the officer in pursuit of the speeder apparently didn't acknowledge the intersection in any regard. High speed chases rarely end in a positive result.

It is very interesting that one of the sister's were not wearing a seatbelt at the moment of impact. Why didn't Higbee call off the pursuit ,as he was nearing the intersection;and why didn't put on his siren and lights;knowing that he would not be able to make a full stop.??
The greatest obstacle for the defense,is Hibee's own statement;where he states,he stopped at the stop sign and look both ways. Witness& victum R.Taylor stated he heard the police car's engine excelerate.
The 'spin out 'of the Becker sister's car with the Taylor car;along with one of the Becker sisters not wearing a seatbelt might have cause their death.
Higbee should have put on his siren and lights. I believe it also came out in testimony that Higbee had driven through the area,earlier on his tour of duty;so he had to know that there was a stop sign.

What still angers me most,is that the Becker sister's mother recieved a $2million civil case,before this case went to trial.

I have watched this trial faithfully and cannot believe all that was said and presented as there have been so many contradictory things said and presented that it really is hard to make an educated opinion of what really occured, or why.

However, the bottom line here is that this was truly a horrific "accident" and regardless of what all of our opinions are of what really transpired, the fact remains that nothing will bring back those beautiful, young girls; nor will our opinions, or arguments, take away all of the pain and suffering that all of the families involved are experiencing and will experience for the rest of their lives.

The best that any of us can do is to just "back off" with all of the opinions and arguments and just pray for everyone, that they will all be able to somehow find a peaceful way to deal with this so that they can go on with their lives - otherwise, the loss of life is far greater than the two "physical" lives that have already been taken far before their time. I pray continually that everyone involved in this tragedy can somehow find their own way of healing in this and know that faith and prayer is always the best place to start. There is a lesson here for all of us, if we just open our hearts enough to see it.

May God bless all of you, and give you the strength you need to overcome this terrible tragedy.

he was more like speeding himself he dident even radio in to dispatcher about the emrgency call let alone blow sirens many cops wreckles drive all the time he just using an excuse about a speeder. funny why he crashed and not the speeder