Gary Craig

@gcraig1

In February, defense attorneys used the testimony of Rochester-based computer forensics expert Gerald "Jerry" Grant Jr. to try to secure a new trial for Adnan Syed, the man imprisoned for murder and the focus of the phenomenally popular podcast Serial.



These high-profile courtroom appearances are becoming more common for Grant, whose expertise is now so recognized that he testifies and conducts forensics training nationally (and is also receiving international requests). Last year federal defense attorneys used Grant's testimony to try to save Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the death sentence.

But it's a long ways from the 11-year-old kid who, while looking through books at the public library for a book report, stumbled on one about the VAX computer — a forerunner to future computer systems, except that it was the size of a small room.

"It fascinated me to no end," Grant, 52, said in a recent interview between the training sessions he leads. (He is in Chicago this week.) "From that point on, that was my draw."

From that start, a livelihood that in many ways remains a hobby for Grant, was born. And his career is almost a roadmap of the evolution of recent technology. He started with the analysis of desktop devices, then mobile technology such as cellphone tracking, and is now studying how fitness trackers can provide details about an individual's whereabouts.

Completely self-taught

"He's completely self-taught and he has a work ethic like nobody else," said local defense lawyer Donald Thompson, whose firm, Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP, often uses Grant. "He is like one of the handful — and not even a full handful — of the best forensics experts in the country."

Grant works part-time with the Federal Public Defender's Office, where he started in 1994. After his Boston Marathon bombing testimony, both the Federal Public Defender's office and Thompson's office presented Grant with framed copies of renderings of his testimony from media courtroom artists.

"I love the one we gave him," Thompson said. "He looks like a professor just educating the jury, saying, 'This is why the prosecution is wrong.' "

Often in testimony, prosecutors will challenge Grant's testimony as an expert, noting that his college experience consists of a two-year associate's degree from Bryant & Stratton College.

"The judges now say, 'I'm letting him testify. Have a nice day,' " Grant said.

In fact, when Rochester's newly-opened Federal Public Defender's Office first wanted to hire Grant in 1994, there was pushback from the national office, which oversees and decides funding for each branch. A particular computer analyst questioned whether Grant had the proper qualifications for the job. Grant later took the analyst's national job.

"In my opinion, Jerry's the best, the best there is," said veteran Rochester defense attorney John Speranza, who now specializes in white-collar cases.

Rochesterians react to Boston bombing verdict

Boston Marathon bombing

With the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who, along with his brother, killed three people with bombings at the 2013 race, there was no doubt about Tsarnaev's guilt. He was caught on videotape carrying the pressure-cooker bomb in a backpack.

Instead, defense attorneys wanted to try to save Tsarnaev from receiving a death penalty.

"It was more or less was he going to die?" Grant said.

Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police. During the federal trial, testimony about Tamerlan's role — he was considered the planner of the terrorism — was limited.

Still, Grant was able to testify that Dzhokhar's telephone was not in the same area as Tamerlan when Tamerlan bought some of the components for the homemade bombs. This was an attempt to bolster the belief that Dzhokhar was simply doing the bidding of his brother.

Once Dzhokhar was convicted, Grant testified during the penalty phase, when the jury had to decide whether Dzhokhar should be executed. Then, Grant was able to talk more about Tamerlan and how his computer visits showed his leanings toward anti-American violence; he even bookmarked YouTube pages about terrorism.

Dzhokhar's Internet wanderings were nothing like his brother's. His social media postings largely focused on his run-of-the-mill social activities, Grant testified.

In June 2015, the jury found Dzhokhar responsible enough for the deaths and maimings caused by the bombs to sentence him to death.

250th Brinks Blog: A Serial post-mortem

Serial testimony

The narrative podcast Serial questioned whether Baltimore resident Adnan Syed was responsible for the murder of a high school friend. He was convicted in 1999, and is now imprisoned for the killing of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee.

Serial's soaring popularity — it has over 70 million downloads — helped prompt a new look at Syed's case, which led to a recent hearing about some of the prosecution evidence. Lawyers for Syed are trying to get a new trial.

Central to the hearing were questions about an alibi witness for Syed, but also at challenge was cellphone evidence that prosecutors claimed linked Syed to the murder. Telephone calls, prosecutors said, placed Syed in a Baltimore park when Lee's body was being buried there.

However, as Grant testified in the recent hearing, the prosecution's cellphone expert was not given a cover sheet that accompanied instructions from AT&T about determining the location of calls. The cover sheet stated, "Outgoing calls only are reliable for location status. Any incoming calls will not be considered reliable information for location."

Using AT&T instructions and data, the expert relied on two incoming calls to Syed's telephone to try to place him at Lee's burial site. The prosecution expert has now said he would not have testified as he did about the value of the incoming calls had he known about the AT&T instructions.

"If AT&T didn't feel that incoming call information was reliable, how can the prosecutors?" Grant said in the interview. "It's their company. They put the towers up."

What was fascinating about the Syed case, Grant said, is how many fans of Serial are now scrutinizing the prosecution evidence, and sometimes finding weaknesses. "When you're dealing with this podcast, you have millions of investigators," he said.

'Serial' podcast's Adnan Syed to argue for new trial

Always something new

Though he usually testifies for defense lawyers, Grant and many federal law enforcement agents have each other's phone numbers in case there are questions about evidence. He is so trusted by prosecutors and federal law enforcement that he has access to a room where he can review evidence at the federal courthouse at 100 State St. In many federal court districts, defense forensics analysts have to negotiate times to scrutinize prosecution proof.

Oftentimes, Grant said, he will find a prosecution's interpretation of forensics evidence right on point, and cannot challenge it.

"He's a straight shooter," said Federal Public Defender Marianne Mariano. "He's committed to getting it right."

"He's tireless," she said. "I call him the Energizer Bunny. He has the energy of a 2-year-old, but in a good way."

Grant, who is divorced with a son serving in the U.S. Army's 503rd Infantry Regiment, said he never tires of his job. He said he is constantly educating himself about the latest technology, which seems to be in constant evolution and revolution.

He has his own consulting firm, JR Computer Consulting. "I have over a hundred active cases now pending," he said.

"I have no idea what every day is going to be like," he said.

Nor can he escape the growing recognition of his prowess.

"We always use him for personal stuff, like when my cellphone doesn't work I call him from our landline," Thompson said.

He always calls back with answers, Thompson said, but it is getting tougher to secure him for defense work.

"He use to be a lot more accessible," Thompson said, "but now a lot of people are cutting into our time."

GCRAIG@gannett.com

'Finding Tammy Jo'

A podcast produced by a partnership of the Democrat and Chronicle and WXXI News, "Finding Tammy Jo" takes an in-depth look at the unsolved murder case of a 16-year-old girl found dead in an upstate New York cornfield in November 1979.

About the podcast 'Finding Tammy Jo'