Justin Noble Willits — Direct
107 linesMS. CAPPLEMAN: State calls Justin Noble Willits.
JUDGE HANKINSON: I thought somebody was already getting your next witness.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Come on up here, please, sir.
JUDGE HANKINSON: If you'd please — the clerk can swear him, please.
COURT CLERK: Do you swear the testimony you're about to give in this case will be true, the truth, and nothing but the truth?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I do.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Have a seat, please. Slide up to the microphone.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sir, please introduce yourself and spell your name.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: My name is Justin Noble Willits. J-U-S-T-I-N, N-O-B-E-L, W-I-L-L-I-T-S.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How are you employed, Mr. Willits?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I'm an investigator and toll enforcement officer with the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Turnpike Enterprise.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where were you employed back in July of 2014?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I was employed with the same agency.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And are you familiar with the SunPass toll booths on Alligator Alley, or I-75?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, I am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Are those toll booths operated by the Florida Department of Transportation?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, they are.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And explain how it is that you're familiar with the way that these toll booths operate.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: The toll booths — they collect cash at these toll booths, as well as accept SunPass.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When a vehicle drives through that with a SunPass, what information is retained by FDOT about the vehicle or the SunPass?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: The time of the transaction is recorded. The transponder number associated, that is read inside the vehicle, is recorded. I believe that's probably about it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what can you tell us a little bit about the equipment that captures that data, and how it's captured?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Well, at the tolls we have readers that will read the transponders, count the number of axles, so we know how much to bill the customer.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And where is the information that's collected when a vehicle with a SunPass passes through one of these toll booths? Where is that data stored?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: We have various audit systems that capture the data. There's lane controllers there at the toll facilities that capture the data, send it to our data center, and the data is then posted to the SunPass customer's account.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And is the data that's created — I guess, is the data that's captured, captured at the time, or approximately the time, that the vehicle passes through the toll booth?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And are you the custodian of that data?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, I am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And were the devices present on the SunPass toll booths of Alligator Alley in proper working order back in July of 2014?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Was the equipment in proper working order — is that what you're asking?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sir.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, it was.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And were you able to search for a particular transponder which passed through these toll booths during certain windows of time in this case?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes. I was given two specific dates and time frames by the Tallahassee Police Department, and I supplied them a spreadsheet showing all the transponders that registered during those time frames, along with the customer account information that's associated with those transponders, which included the customer name, address, and all the vehicles that are associated on the accounts — their license plate numbers, the type of vehicle, make, model.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And was that the initial request, which produced a really vast number of vehicles?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And then at some point later, were you given a subpoena for more specific time frames for a Prius passing through those two toll booths on Alligator Alley at specific windows of time?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: No, it all was encompassed into one subpoena.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The subpoena asked for — I have a copy of it here — on July 16th, toll records for westbound traffic between the hours of 12:30 and 16:30. Correct?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then toll records for July 18th for the eastbound traffic between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. All right. And how many Priuses that had transponders affixed to them fit both of those windows?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I believe, when I filtered the spreadsheet data, there was only one customer account that had transactions going westbound on the 16th and then eastbound on the 18th.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: At those windows, at those times?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And did that transponder, which passed — was associated with the Prius and passed through both toll booths at the operative two times and dates — did that transponder have a particular number that's unique to that transponder?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, it did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was the transponder number?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I don't have those records here with me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Would it assist your testimony to review the spreadsheet that you previously indicated?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, yes, it would.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Show you—
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, I do. This is filtered-out information from the spreadsheet I provided the Tallahassee Police Department. Yes, it is.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that's all data that you collected from the storage mechanism that you described, from these SunPass folders, correct?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. At this time I ask them into evidence, 92A and B.
JUDGE HANKINSON: They'll be admitted.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can — Can you give us an idea of what data we're looking at here in the State's — my 92A says "relevant excerpt from data."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do I need to bring it back over there?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yeah, I can't read that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What does the yellow signify?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: This information is going to show the date and time of the transaction in the first column, the plaza ID number, which in this case the 106100 is going to be for on July 16th. That's going to be for the westbound traffic.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Lane number is going to be the specific lane number they went through.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Various toll facilities have a certain number of lanes, and in this case it looks like it was either five or six D — I can't make it out — but that's going to be a dedicated SunPass lane.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I think that looks like the address of the account holder is shown in here, the license plates of all the vehicles that were registered to the account, the vehicle year, make, model, and color, all of which would have been inputted onto the account by the account holder.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: They're just highlighting a specific vehicle in this case. In this case it looks like it was a Toyota Prius that was green in color. Our SunPass customer accounts do not link a certain transponder to a certain vehicle, so I cannot say what vehicle was in possession of a certain transponder.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, but you can say that that transponder that passed through those two toll booths during those windows of time was affixed to a Prius, or associated with the Prius, correct?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I can only testify that it was associated with the SunPass account of — it doesn't show it all in this display that you have here, but it was associated with a specific SunPass account and SunPass customer.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And do you know who that account or customer is?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: It was Darren A. Schwartz.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And do you have any more information about Mr. Schwartz?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: What I recall in the SunPass account is that there was an email address on the account that made it look as if it was a certain rental car company that rented hybrid-type vehicles.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So that transponder was associated with Mr. Schwartz's account.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And as far as — I think I previously asked you how many Priuses fit the bill of coming and going through those toll booths at that time, and then when I'm looking at the data sheet here I'm seeing a green Prius, so I'm confused as to how you can't tell me it was a green Prius. Can you explain that a little better?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Sure. On a SunPass account, in this case, there were during this period of time a number of transponders that went through. Tallahassee Police Department had advised that they were looking for a Prius for a suspect vehicle. There were probably several thousands of transponders that went through during that period of time. Using the Excel spreadsheet, I was able to filter out all the accounts that had Priuses linked to them, and in this case there was only one specific account that had a Prius listed on it that went eastbound and westbound during the time frames that were provided by Tallahassee Police Department.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, thank you. And that was Mr. Schwartz's account?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, thank you. And I want to show you State's Exhibit — State's Exhibit 127 contains toll records with a certification of authenticity for all the transactions that you have — all the data that you provided. Is that correct?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yeah, I haven't seen this CD before.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You have not reviewed the disc?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: No, I have not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In reference to this case? Okay. Did you provide data to — who did you provide the data to when you provided it?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I initially provided it to Detective Craig Isom, I think his name is, with Tallahassee Police Department.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: And subsequently, I provided it to somebody with the Leon County State Attorney's Office.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And when you provided that information, did you also provide the certification or declaration of authenticity for the data that you provided?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct. Yes, I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: One moment, please, Your Honor.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Let me ask you — I know you said the transponder is not necessarily associated with a particular vehicle. Were you able to, in your investigation into Mr. Schwartz's account and the fact that he had a Prius listed on his account, were you able to deduce the tag or VIN number for the green Prius that Mr. Schwartz had on his account? Is that something that you would have access to on the account?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: There were, if I remember correctly, several Priuses listed. Each Prius had a license plate number associated with the vehicle.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And is that information that would have been contained on your data that you provided to both law enforcement and the State Attorney's Office?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes. I provided them with Mr. Schwartz's SunPass account records.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And it contained potential license plate numbers for the green Prius in question, the green Prius that's attached to his account, correct?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: There were green Priuses listed on the account, and they had license plate numbers associated with them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. What about the VIN numbers — would those be included in your data?
JUDGE HANKINSON: I'm left a little puzzled. Let me clarify: the date and time of the transactions that you're talking about, that you've identified there — when are they?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: The dates were July 16, 2014 for westbound traffic on Alligator Alley, and what I supplied the Tallahassee Police Department was between 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. And then I also provided them with Alligator Alley eastbound traffic on July 18, 2014, between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
JUDGE HANKINSON: But the highlighted transactions — is there a specific time on the—
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, that — to the Schwartz account. Yes, there was.
JUDGE HANKINSON: What are those times?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I'd have to review the—
JUDGE HANKINSON: So, it's not on that document.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Any juror have a question of this witness?
JUDGE HANKINSON: We need to keep him anything further? You're free. You can step down.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Thank you.