An Amazon Echo May Be The Answer To Solving A Murder Case

• comments
• 
• 

Internet-connected devices may now have a role to play in criminal cases. The police department in Bentonville, Arkansas has issued a warrant to Amazon, requesting the company to deliver data from an Echo device which will provide evidence that will help in determining the guilt of a suspect in a murder case.

The murder suspect, James Andrew Bates, was charged with first degree murder in November of 2015 after authorities found Victor Collins, the murder victim strangled and drowned in Bates' hot tub.

However, Bates told the police that he invited Collins and two other friends, Owen McDonald and Sean Henry, over to his place to watch a football game. He explained that at about 1 a.m., he decided to go to bed leaving Collins and McDonald to hang out and drink in his hot tub.

Bates' affidavit states that he found Collins face down in the water when he woke up several hours later. McDonald, in contradicting the affidavit said he left Bates and Collins around 12:30 a.m., his story was corroborated by his wife who proved his alibi.

Phone records also confirmed that Bates was texting a woman throughout the evening and had placed several calls to his dad, friends including McDonald and the Flying Fish restaurant, although none of the calls went through, the accused told police they were just accidental butt dials.

According to reports, the accused has several internet-connected devices in his home, including a Nest thermostat and a Honeywell alarm system, but his Amazon Echo is seen to be the key source of evidence in the case. 

However, the police have noted that they were able to access data from the speaker, but it is still not clear how much data could be extracted from the device or how useful that data would be in the case. According to the company, Alexa is always listening through a system of seven built-in microphones but waits for its user to say the "wake word" to send it commands.

Amazon has however, declined to deliver the information requested by the warrant but the company handed over Bates' account details and purchases, according to Engadget.

According to court records, the company says it will not be releasing customer information without a valid and binding legal order properly served on Amazon. The company says it objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.

Although the Police department has seized the Echo from Bates home, to serve as material evidence, it is reported that another device that could serve as evidence - the water meter, is still in the suspect's house. The device showed that suspect's home ran 140 gallons of water between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the night the murder took place according to Techcrunch.

There are also arguments on how reliable and binding are the information gotten from these smart home devices. The weight of the evidence gotten from IoT devices can be a subject of legal debate but it seems that audio recording will be clear and convincing evidence.

Kimberly Weber, defense attorney argues that a person has an expectation of privacy in his home and that he has a problem with the law enforcement using the technology that advances the quality of life against individuals.