Skip to content
Timothy Jones Jr.- Case Archive
personpersonMike PhippsMike PhippsLexington County sheriff's digital-evidence examiner and member of the South Carolina Electronic Crimes Task Force.← All People
Expert witness

Mike Phipps

Courtroom still of Mike Phipps.

Lexington County sheriff's digital-evidence examiner and member of the South Carolina Electronic Crimes Task Force.

Appeared2019 Murder Trial
343 lines·12 proceedings·7 mentions

About

Mike Phipps testified as a digital-forensics expert about the extraction and review of data from a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. On direct examination on Day 16, he described file-system and physical extractions, the processing of data for review, and State's Exhibit 77, which reported call logs, text messages, searches, and web history. He also discussed entries from late August through early September 2014, including communications, searches, browsing activity, a location report, and a September 4 powering event.

Defense counsel cross-examined Phipps about the report's selection of about 1,240 artifacts from roughly 24,750 total data points and about what individual entries could establish. Phipps said he could not identify the destinations of certain YouTube links, needed further information to identify one search platform, and could not determine whether a Kindle-store history entry reflected a purchase.

During redirect and resumed redirect on Days 16 and 17, Phipps clarified the report's temporal scope and identified searches, texts, and notes extracted from the phone. He testified that repeated Google-search entries might result from refreshed database records rather than separate searches. On recross, he dated a phone image to May 17, 2014 using accompanying metadata, said he could not identify the children in the image, and the court admitted Defendant's Exhibit 127.

Key Points

Trial Record (12)

Trial 12019 Murder TrialApr 29, 2019 – Jun 13, 2019Called by prosecution

Mike Phipps testified as a digital-forensics expert about data extracted from a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, including the phone-activity report introduced as State's Exhibit 77. Cross-examination tested the report's scope and the limits of what particular entries could establish.

Day 11

Day 15

Day 16

DirectMike Phipps — DirectMike PhippsShawn Graham4highlights166lines spoken

Summary

Digital-forensics examiner Mike Phipps authenticated and explained a phone-activity report tracing calls, texts, searches, web history, and device-power events.

Highlights (4)

Quote“We take the device and we process it. In this case, I use a forensic tool by a company called Cellebrite.”— Mike PhippsPhipps summarized the forensic process used to recover phone data.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“We can't tell that. All that I'm able to determine is that he entered those search terms within the Youtube app or the web page.”— Mike PhippsPhipps distinguished a recorded search from proof that particular video content was viewed.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossMike Phipps — CrossMike PhippsBoyd Young2highlights100lines spoken

Summary

Defense established that the phone report selected 1,240 artifacts from roughly 24,750 data points and elicited limits on interpreting some entries.

Highlights (2)

testimony highlightPhipps distinguished web-history entries from proof of a Kindle purchase and said further data was needed to determine the platform for one search before consulting his notes.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“It's a web history for the Kindle store. I can't tell you whether the item was purchased or not, but, yes.”— Mike PhippsPhipps distinguished a browsing-history entry from proof of a purchase.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 17

RedirectMike Phipps — Redirect (Resumed)Mike PhippsShawn Graham2highlights53lines spoken

Summary

Phipps clarified the phone-data report's scope, identified searches and messages, and reported no keyword results about children threatening or harming the Defendant.

Highlights (2)

Quote“Again, multiple Google searches aren't necessarily meaning that the same text was researched. The way the database logs it, it could be just something that's refreshed in there.”— Mike PhippsQualifies how repeated entries in the phone database should be interpreted.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
RecrossMike Phipps — RecrossMike PhippsBoyd Young2highlights10lines spoken

Summary

Phipps identified a May 17, 2014 phone photograph of two children; the court admitted Defendant's Exhibit 127.

Highlights (2)

Quote“It's a picture of two children crouched down in front of a lobster tank.”— Mike PhippsPhipps identified the content of the phone image after confirming its metadata date.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 19

Day 25