Maryland Case Debates Laser Legality
In the first case of its kind to reach the appeals level in
Maryland, a Howard County Circuit Court judge is deciding whether
Maryland police should be allowed to use laser speed guns.
At issue is not only the accuracy and reliability of the LTI
20-20 laser but also whether police may use lasers even though the
legislature has twice defeated bills specifically authorizing the
devices.
The case involves David Goldstein, a Gaithersburg
transportation consultant who in July 1992 was clocked by a laser-toting
Howard County police officer at 74 in a 55-mph zone on Route 32 near
Jessup. Howard District Court convicted him of speeding in April 1993.
In a hearing during mid-May before Judge Raymond Kane, Jr.,
Goldstein’s attorney, Kevin Reynolds, of Annapolis, argued that laser
guns do not have the proper circitry to give accurate speed readings.
He pointed out that no federal agencies have approved lasers for police
use, and that most studies, training programs and certification
procedures come from the laser manufacturer. Reynolds also noted that
in 1993 a Michigan court found serious problems with the research
supporting the LTI’s accuracy.
The prosecution pointed to the increasingly widespread use of
the laser, and observed that even NASA has used the devices in space
shuttle missions. Tests conducted by Howard County police found radar
and the laser gave identical readings 68 percent of the time and were
within 1 mph of each other in the remaining tries.
Although the prosecutor contended that defeat of laser
legislation was killed despite extensive testimony and demonstrations
of the laser. Legislators "didn’t want it," Reynolds said of the
laser. "This is unauthorized technology."
Taken from "Radar Reporter", May 1994
Permission granted by "Radar"
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