Judge rejects GPS challenge of speeding ticket

A Sonoma County Superior Court judge ruled this month that a Windsor teenager was guilty of speeding on Lakeville Highway on July 4, despite his family’s claims that a global positioning device inside the car he was driving indicated that he was driving at the speed limit.

The family of Shaun Malone, 17, now plans to appeal the ruling of Judge Carla Bonilla. His stepfather, Roger Rude, a retired lieutenant for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, had the tracking system installed in the 2000 Toyota Celica GTS so that he and his wife, Karen Kahn, can track Malone’s speed and location if they desire.

They promised Malone that they would help him if he was issued a speeding ticket in a situation where the GPS indicated he was not guilty.

A Petaluma police officer claims that Malone was traveling at 62 mph in a 45 mph zone, but the family contends that the tracking device shows that he was driving at 45 mph at virtually the same time and place.

The GPS device might have tracked him at a slightly different spot and time, so Rude is seeking more information from the police department as he plans the appeal.

This case marks the first time that a speeding ticket has been contested in the county using data from such a tracking device.