5.Justin Noble Willits — Direct
128 lines(The Bench Conference was concluded.)
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State calls Justin Nobel willits.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Come on up here, please, sir. Come on up here, please, sir.
If you would face the clerk and be sworn, please.
whereupon, JUSTIN WILLITS was called as a witness, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
JUDGE HANKINSON: Have a seat, please, sir. Slide up to the microphone.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. CAPPLEMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sir, please introduce yourself and spell your name.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: My name and Justin Nobel 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 law 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 are -- they collect cash at these toll booths as well as accept SunPass.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when a vehicle drives through 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. It counts the number of axles so we know how much to bill the customer.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And where is the information that's collected with a vehicle when 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, sends it to our data center. 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 --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sir.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: -- is that what you're asking?
Yes, it was.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And were you able to search for a particular transponder which pass through these toll booths during certain windows of time?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: In this case, yes. I was given two specific dates and timeframes by the Tallahassee Police Department, and I supplied them a spreadsheet showing all the transponders that registered during those timeframes along with the customer account information that's associated with those transponders, which included the customer name, address, and all of the vehicles they 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 timeframes 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. The subpoena asked for -- I have a copy of it here -- on July 16th, toll records for westbound traffic between the hours of 1230 and 1630.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: which is 12:30 and 4:30 p.m.?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: A four-hour window?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes. And then toll records for July 18th for the eastbound traffic between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And how many Priuses that have 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 of time?
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 you prepared?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes. Yes, it would.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm going to show you what I've marked as 92A and B. Do you recognize State's 92A and B?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, I do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How do you recognize those exhibits?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: This is filtered-out information from the spreadsheet I provided to the Tallahassee Police Department.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And is that fair and accurate information as you provided it to the Tallahassee Police Department?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Yes, it is.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that's all data that you collected from the storage mechanism that you described from the SunPass tol] booths?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Judge, at this time, I'd ask to move into evidence 92A and B.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Any objection?
MR. ZANGENEH: No objection from Garcia, Judge.
MR. DECOSTE: No, Your Honor.
JUDGE HANKINSON: They'll be admitted.
(State's Exhibit No. 92A - 92B received in evidence.)
BY MS. CAPPLEMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So, tell us -- I may have to bring this back to you, but can you give us an idea of what data we're looking at here in State's 92A? It says, "Relevant excerpt from data.”
Do I need to bring it back over there? I know you probably can't read it.
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; lane number is going to be the specific lane number they went through. Various toll facilities have a certain number of lanes, and in this case, it looks like it was either 5 or 6D -- I can't make it out -- but which that's going to be a dedicated SunPass lane.
The -- 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.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And what did a yellow line signify? Because you've got a few different vehicles listed there.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: They are just highlighting a specific vehicle in this case. In this case, it looks like it was a Toyota Prius that was green in color.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that the Prius that's affiliated with the transponder that came and went through the operative windows of time?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I -- our SunPass customers’ 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 at those -- during those windows of time was affixed to a Prius or associated with a Prius; correct?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I can only testify that it was associated with the SunPass account of -- it doesn't show it all on this display that you have here, but it was associated with a specific SunPass account and SunPass customer.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And you don't know who that account or customer is?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: It was Daren 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 during -- eastbound and westbound during the timeframes 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 127, which has been previously introduced. State's Exhibit 127 contains toll records with a certification of authenticity for all of the transactions that you have -- all of the data that you provided; is that correct?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: I haven't seen this CD before.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You have not reviewed the disk --
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, and subsequently I provided it to a -- somebody with the Leon County State Attorney's Office.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And when you provided that information, did you also provide a certification or declaration of authenticity for the data that you provided?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct. Yes, I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Thank you.
One moment, please, Your Honor.
BY MS. CAPPLEMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Oh, let me ask you -- I know you said it's -- 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 Prius, the green Prius that Mr. Schwartz had on his account? Is that something that you would have access to?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: On the account, there were -- if I remember correctly, there were 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?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Correct. There were green Priuses listed on the account, and they had license plate numbers associated with them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. What about VIN numbers? would those be included in your data?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. No further questions.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Garcia?
MR. ZANGENEH: One second, Your Honor.
No questions from Mr. Garcia.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Magbanua?
MR. DECOSTE: None, Your Honor.
JUDGE HANKINSON: I'm left a little puzzled; so 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 16th, 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 18th, 2014, between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
JUDGE HANKINSON: But the highlighted transactions, is there a specific time with those --
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: On the --
JUDGE HANKINSON: -- attached to the Schwartz account?
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: 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: All right. Any juror have a question of this witness? All right.
Do we need to keep him any further?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, sir.
JUDGE HANKINSON: All right. Anybody need him for any further?
MR. ZANGENEH: No, Your Honor.
JUDGE HANKINSON: All right. You're free to step down.
JUSTIN NOBLE WILLITS: Thank you.
JUDGE HANKINSON: Your next witness.
MS. NORRIS: The State calls waldo Nunez.