Legally Traceable Time® in Action

Why This Case Study Is Relevant

It demonstrates a real-world situation where it was critical to have Legally Traceable Time.®

Background

The Martinsville-Henry County 911 Center, located in Henry County, Virginia, installed an Orolia NetClock® time server solution. The original purpose of the installation was to keep their 911 equipment synchronized, since all of their 911 system computers, their recorder and their county servers needed to be connected through one unified time synchronization system.

Recently, Orolia’s NetClock solution also helped the 911 Center clarify a time line dispute in a major homicide case in their jurisdiction. The homicide occurred on the same morning, at around the same time, that Daylight Saving Time went into effect.

During the investigation, there was some confusion as to the timeline of the homicide. Police investigators obtained cell phone records from the suspect’s cell phone provider, but these records were inconclusive – the cell phone provider was not able to clearly testify as to the time of the calls.

The 911 Center, however, was able to testify with certainty about the times that its recorder showed that the 911 calls were placed. The Center explained in court how NetClock obtained its time from the atomic clocks located on the GPSGlobal Positioning System is a navigation satellite system. See also satellites orbiting Earth, and how the clocks automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time without human intervention.

Results

The 911 Center’s testimony assisted the prosecution in clearly placing the suspect in the area of the homicide during the time that the crime was committed. Without Orolia’s NetClock solution, it would have been extremely difficult for the prosecuting attorney to prove his case.