Mock Trial Direct

1. Please introduce yourself

1. I’m Sam Longo

1. What do you do?

1. I am a digital forensics examiner, specializing in recovering and analyzing electronic evidence from computers and mobile devices

1. Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

I hold a degree in computer science from Stanford University and have over ten years of experience operating a digital forensics consultancy firm in the Bay Area.

1. Why are you here today?

1. I was asked by Detective Rio Sacks to investigate forensic evidence belonging to the defendant, Ms. Fromholz.

1. What specifically were you asked to investigate?

1. I was asked to examine the defendant’s laptop and phone , 

1. Let’s take those one at a time, starting with the laptop. What did you find on the laptop?

1. At first, I found that the defendant’s search history had been deleted and incognito mode had been utilized

1. So how did you go about recovering the search history?

1. I created a forensic clone - a piece for piece reconstruction of each device to ensure the originals weren’t altered.

1. What did you find that the defendant looked up on iForage?

1. The defendant frequently visited a post related to the location of heartstopper mushrooms in Artemis Grove. 

1. What is iForage?

1. It is a citizen-science website, that allows users to post information about mushrooms and other foragable items in their community 

1. What did you find that the defendant looked up on iForage?

1. The defendant frequently visited a post related to the location of heartstopper mushrooms in Artemis Grove. I also found searches for “heartstopper poisoning,”

1. And where was the location of heartstopper mushrooms in Artemis Grove according to the post?

1. The site show a bundle of heatstopper mushrooms near an oak tree on the southside of Artemis Grove

1. And what was the exact date and time of this search?

1. April 8th between 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm

1. And when was the search history deleted?

1. April 8th, 5:35 pm

1. And when did Chef Sears die?

1. two days later.

16. Was there anything found relevant to that application?

1. Yes. Detective Sacks found a photo of a deleted folder titled “MORGAN SEARS IS A LYING FRAUD”

17. What happened to this folder?

I could not recover it even after searching through traditionally deleted files 

11. I want to talk about the phone now. What forensic evidence did you use the phone for? 

1. I used it to track the defendant’s location on the morning of April 9th

20. Would a map help you identify the location of the defendant’s phone

Yes

1. Your Honor, permission for the prosecution to display Exhibit B? Prosecution offers Exhibit B into evidence

2. Your Honor, permission for Mr. Longo to step down and use the exhibit

Step down and walk up to exibit

21. So where was the defendant on the morning of April 9th?

1.   On April 9, Fromholz's phone recorded clear movement starting at the north side of Artemis Grove. Around here (point to the north of the map)

22. Then what happened?

1. The location of the phone proceeded to the south side of Artemis Grove (traveling through the main pat, until stopping here)

23. What is on the south side of Artemis Grove

1. It is where the site iForage displayed the heart-stopper mushrooms

25. Where specifically was the phone

1. Within 20-40ft of the heart-stopper mushrooms mentioned on the iForage post

26. And what happened after that?

1. The phone’s location returns to the north side