A digital forensic expert formerly with the Dutch National Police was back on the stand at BC Supreme Court this morning (June 17) on the tenth day of the cyberbullying trial of Port Coquitlam student Amanda Todd.
Marten Busstra continued his testimony before Madam Justice Martha Devlin and the 12-person jury in New Westminster on the technology he and his team seized from the vacation home allegedly rented by Aydin Coban.
Coban has pleaded not guilty to:
- Extortion
- Importing and distributing child pornography
- Possession of child pornography
- Communicating with the intent to lure a child
- Criminal harassment
None of the allegations is proven in court.
Speaking in English, Busstra described to Crown Counsel Kristen LeNoble about the devices removed from the bungalow over two days in January 2014 — shortly after Coban was arrested.
Busstra also explained the process that investigators used to analyze the long list of goods taken from the Oisterwijk residence, including computers, internal and external hard drives, a web cam, wifi adapter, CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, USB sticks, smart phones, a GPS, an antenna and sim cards.
A passport, with Coban’s image on the identification page, as well as 10,000 Euros in bundled cash, various passport images of Coban and 10 keys were also seized from the home as evidence, the court heard.
At a nearby police lab, Busstra said, he examined the devices and copied their data; however, some items were sent to the Dutch Forensic Institute for further analysis or repair.
Cross examination
Still, some devices were beyond fixing and/or couldn’t have their contents copied by police, Busstra told defence counsel Trevor Martin.
Busstra testified some devices, like a memory card or USB sticks, had no data on them, and a DVD had music files.
The GPS also pinned two places, the court heard: “Home” was listed as Ghent, while another location, described as “004” to the court, was another location in Belgium.
As well, sim cards from two mobile phones didn’t have the same phone number as what Coban had allegedly provided to two women in May 2011 in Rotterdam in connection with a home rental.
Martin also pointed out inconsistencies with Busstra’s expert report, specifically photos showing devices removed from the vacation home that had been later altered at the police lab.
The trial continues.
