Man Arrested After Facial Recognition Software Match
A Chicago resident, Phillip Akins, was recently charged with first-degree murder after investigators connected him to a murder last summer utilizing facial recognition software that matched him to a surveillance photo from the scene of the crime. In their proffer seeking his pretrial detention, prosecutors outlined the investigation and their theory of the case, which is that the victim, taxi driver Olawale Falore, picked up Akins for a fare before they got into an argument over payment and Akins, who had a concealed carry license, shot into the vehicle multiple times after exiting the vehicle at the final destination, which killed Falore. The taxi was equipped with an interior video and audio recording system, which officers used to pull images of the shooter and send to the Secretary of State Police who fed the images through their facial recognition system which matched Akins. After confirming with several coworkers who identified Akins as the man in the photos, they were able to obtain a search warrant for his phone that prosecutors say tracked the movements on the day of the shooting and further tied him to the murder. While facial recognition technology is not new, there are some experts who worry what effect artificial intelligence will have on the technology as it becomes increasingly utilized by law enforcement. Although it is generally understood to be a helpful asset for investigators, there is always a danger that it will be abused or used as a shortcut by law enforcement.
Ohio Judge Excludes Evidence from Murder Trial Which Relied on AI Technology
Recently a judge in Ohio granted a motion to suppress in a murder case of any evidence derivative of an identification that relied entirely on AI facial recognition software, which the prosecutors say will make it extremely difficult to secure a conviction in the case. In the case at issue, after law enforcement investigating the shooting of Blake Story in Cleveland did not have any leads, they fed surveillance footage from the scene into Clearview AI, one of the largest facial recognition databases in the world with an estimated 30 billion images, to try and identify a suspect. When the software technology identified the suspect as Qeyon Tolbert, the police used that identification to obtain a search warrant of Tolbert’s residence without any other corroborating information other than the AI software’s match connecting Tolbert to the crime. In addition, the use of facial recognition technology was not mentioned in the affidavit it supporting the search warrant, which the judge ruled led to the warrant being granted without proper probable cause and prohibiting introduction of a firearm and other key evidence recovered from Tolbert’s residence as a result of the search. To be clear, Clearview AI itself states that their identification should not be the sole basis for any arrests, but many opponents of the implementation of the technology point out that such tools can be abused by law enforcement or used as a shortcut, not to mention issues like bias in these systems that can lead to higher false positives for some racial groups, lack of transparency for defendants, and overreaching surveillance concerns. The law governing these emerging technologies will certainly evolve as courts grapple with these issues, but anyone who is facing charges or has been convicted due to law enforcement utilizing these new investigation methods should consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney to make sure the results of the investigation procured reliable evidence and that their constitutional rights were not violated as a result of its use.
