When police attempt to place you at or near the scene of a crime, one of the tools they may use is “triangulation” of your cell phone. Texas law enforcement agencies are not the only ones to use this type of evidence, but it is not as reliable as police and prosecutors make it seem. If you face a criminal charge based on this evidence, it can be challenged.
Triangulation uses three cell phone towers to attempt to locate a user. The coverage area that overlaps between the three towers locates a particular cell phone. The problem is that the triangulated area could be large or small.
At best, this provides officials with an area where an individual might be located. That does not necessarily mean that you were present at the scene of a crime. Even if you were in the area, that does not mean you committed the crime. Perhaps you loaned your cell phone to someone else. You, and/or your phone, could be in that area for any number of reasons.
Another issue with using this as evidence involves the way cell phone companies make sure that you never experience a dropped call. When a cell phone tower becomes overloaded, it can switch a user to another tower. This could render any triangulation evidence invalid since you and your cell phone might not have even been in the specified area.
As you can see, facing a criminal charge based on cell phone triangulation does not necessarily indicate guilt on your part. Many individuals simply do not understand the potential faults that accompany this type of evidence. A criminal defense attorney who understands the technology could help discredit this information, which could render it inadmissible by a criminal court in Texas. This is just one area of your case that can be challenged, which could lead to a reduction or dismissal of the charges against you.
