in fact, she could not. from the beginning, the critical question in the case was always, why did deputy sinclair jam on his brakes? kayfetz s dramatic re-enactment answered the question. now, from sinclair s viewpoint, we can see that he sees the lead secret service car straddling the center line just a bit more than a second before he begins to skid in a straight line across the highway. the last view is that of agent labarge just before the fatal crash. based on kayfetz s powerful reenactment and the work of brunn s team of investigators, a judge ruled that the secret service agents were partially responsible for the accident. he also ruled that the united
measurements. brunn s experts needed a map of the accident scene with the skid marks to conduct their investigation. kayfetz s job was to reproduce the mark on the road in the exact position so a surveyor could map its location. he began by making a 35-milimeter negative of schneider s photograph showing the skid mark. i put it into a special camera that i take back to the scene. i locate the exact point from which he took his photograph, and looking through my camera, i can re-mark the position of the skid mark on the ground and have a surveyor record it. the chalk marks helped kayfetz verify that the mark was exactly as it appeared in the photo. once the new survey map was created, dr. william blythe, an expert in applied mechanics and accident reconstruction, was able to trace the path of the
brunn s team of investigators, a judge ruled that the secret service agents were partially responsible for the accident. he also ruled that the united states should reimburse mariposa county 30% of a $4 million settlement that had been paid to the families of the secret service agents killed in the accident. i felt good that the judge believed sergeant sinclair that the secret service agents had driven across the center line. i felt very good about that. the verdict was later overturned on a technicality, but brunn and his team of forensic experts had proven their case. it is phenomenal and it is amazing what they can put together and how they can reconstruct an accident and how they can make little small pieces of evidence tell a story. there s satisfaction when the pieces come together in a case like this and other similar cases. that was a very powerful
sergeant sinclair, it would seem, was vindicated. he said they were coming right all the him. the new evidence suggested that sinclair had hit the brakes, not because he was going too fast, as the highway patrol contended, but because he saw danger ahead. the california highway patrol investigators dismissed the new evidence, calling it the phantom skid mark. the chp experts covered that ground on their hands and knees, literally inch by inch, and never saw that skid mark. why they didn t find it wasn t clear, but the discovery gave new impetus to brunn s team of forensic accident reconstruction experts. paul kayfetz, a photographer and engineer, is an expert in something called photogrammetry. it s a $6 word for making measurements from photographs or using photographs to make
sergeant sinclair, it would seem, was vindicated. he said they were coming right all the him. the new evidence suggested that sinclair had hit the brakes, not because he was going too fast, as the highway patrol contended, but because he saw danger ahead. the california highway patrol investigators dismissed the new evidence, calling it the phantom skid mark. the chp experts covered that ground on their hands and knees, literally inch by inch, and never saw that skid mark. why they didn t find it wasn t clear, but the discovery gave new impetus to brunn s team of forensic accident reconstruction experts. paul kayfetz, a photographer and engineer, is an expert in something called photogrammetry. it s a $6 word for making measurements from photographs or using photographs to make measurements. brunn s experts needed a map