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Goldstein v. State9/7/1995
The issue in this criminal case is the admissibility of readings from a device that uses lasers to measure the speed of motor vehicles. We shall affirm the trial court's rulings and the petitioner's conviction.
I.
Petitioner David Ellis Goldstein was issued a citation on July 17, 1992, charging him with traveling seventy-four miles per hour in a fifty-five mile per hour zone, in violation of Maryland Code (1977, 1992 Repl. Vol., 1994 Cum. Supp.) § 21-801.1 of the Transportation Article. An officer of the Howard County Police Department clocked petitioner's vehicle with the LTI 20-20, a device that uses lasers to measure velocity.
Goldstein was convicted in the District Court of Maryland in Howard County. Pursuant to Maryland Code (1974, 1995 Repl. Vol.) § 12-401 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article ("CJ"), he appealed to the Circuit Court for Howard County. In circuit court, Goldstein filed a motion to exclude all laser evidence on the grounds that (1) the General Assembly implicitly rejected the admissibility of laser technology by refusing to enact proposed legislation that would specifically permit laser evidence, and (2) the LTI 20-20 does not satisfy the standard for the admission of scientific evidence under Reed v. State, 283 Md. 374, 391 A.2d 364 (1978). The trial judge reserved ruling on these issues until after the presentation of evidence.
At trial, each side called a scientific expert to testify concerning the reliability and acceptance of the LTI 20-20 in the particular scientific community. The State's expert testified that the LTI 20-20 is generally accepted as reliable and capable of measuring the speed of a motor vehicle accurately within one mile per hour. In opposition, Goldstein's expert testified that the LTI 20-20 is not generally accepted, due primarily to flaws in the particular device. Both experts agreed, however, that in theory laser technology could be used to measure the speed of a motor vehicle.
The trial judge found Goldstein guilty of exceeding the speed limit. The court found that the State had proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the LTI 20-20 is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community and that measurements from the LTI 20-20 are therefore admissible to prove the speed of a motor vehicle. Goldstein was fined $40 and costs.
We granted Goldstein's petition for a writ of certiorari to answer the following questions:
"1. Did the trial court commit error by denying the Defendant's motion to exclude all evidence derived from the use of infra-red light (LASER) to measure the speed of a motor vehicle because the Maryland General Assembly rejected this scientific technique when they in 1992 and 1993 refused to amend the statute (Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-301) which exclusively authorizes the use of radio-microwaves (RADAR) to prove the speed of a motor vehicle to also authorize the use of LASER?
"2. Did the trial judge commit error by determining that the LASER speed detection device (the LTI 20-20) used to measure the speed of Defendant's motor vehicle is generally accepted as reliable in the relevant scientific community thus satisfying the criteria for admissibility of a new scientific technique set forth in Reed v. State, 283 Md. 374, 391 A.2d 364 (1978)?
"3. Did the trial judge commit error by ruling that as the proponent of the new scientific technique in a criminal case the State's burden of proving general acceptance in the relevant scientific community was only by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt or some other standard?"
We shall answer the first of these questions in
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