Judge: Pacemaker data can be used in Middletown arson trial
Judge: Pacemaker data can be used in Middletown arson
trial
Lauren Pack 6:48 p.m Tuesday, July 11, 2017
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind to
use data from a beating heart as evidence, a Butler County judge ruled Tuesday
that evidence from a pacemaker used to get a Middletown man indicted for arson
can be presented at trial.
Ross Compton, 59, was indicted in January on felony
charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud for allegedly starting a fire
in September 2016 at his Court Donegal house. The blaze caused nearly $400,000
in damages.
Middletown detectives said Compton gave statements that
were “inconsistent” with evidence collected at the scene.
Compton, who has an artificial heart implant that uses an
external pump, told police he was asleep when the fire started. When he awoke
and saw the fire, he told police he packed some belongings in a suitcase and
bags, broke out the glass of his bedroom window with a cane, and threw the bags
and suitcase outside before taking them to his car.
Police then obtained a search warrant for all of the
electronic data stored in Compton’s cardiac pacing device, according to court
records.
The data taken from Compton’s pacemaker included his heart
rate, pacer demand, and cardiac rhythms before, during and after the fire.
A cardiologist who reviewed that data determined, “it is
highly improbable Mr. Compton would have been able to collect, pack and remove
the number of items from the house, exit his bedroom window and carry numerous
large and heavy items to the front of his residence during the short period of
time he has indicated due to his medical conditions,” according to court
documents.
Defense attorney Glenn Rossi argued Tuesday the pacemaker
evidence should be thrown out because the search was an invasion of Compton’s
constitutional rights and unreasonable seizure of his private information.
“It is just fundamentally unfair to say to a person the
functioning of your body and the record of it related to illness that you have
… is something that the government should then be able to take and use to
incriminate a person,” Rossi said.
Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Jon Marshall pointed
to instances where police can seize medical records and even blood samples for
use as evidence in criminal cases.
In the end, Common Pleas Judge Charles Pater ruled
against the defense.
Pater said just because the pacemaker data is individual
to Compton doesn’t mean it is more private than other things.
“There is a lot of other information about things that
may characterize the inside of my body that I would much prefer to keep private
rather than how my heart is beating. It is just not that big of a deal,” Pater
said.
Compton’s trial is set for Dec. 4. He is free on bond.
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