Forensics team from NJIT uses cellphone location data to help free wrongly accused

For more than a year, Ray Wooden sat in a Pennsylvania jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Now, he’s free after two recent graduates and a current student of NJIT’s forensic science program uncovered key digital evidence that helped clear his name.

Wooden’s ordeal began in January 2024, after he tipped off police about a woman involved in a local home invasion, which led to the arrest of the woman and her boyfriend, who was found illegally carrying a firearm but later released on bail.

Just days after his release, the woman’s partner then filed a police report accusing Wooden of firing shots at his Philadelphia home — a claim Wooden described as retaliatory — resulting in Wooden’s arrest and release on bail. A repeat accusation by the same man followed that April, and Wooden was arrested again — this time held without bail, spending nearly a year behind bars as the case unfolded.

However, momentum in the case shifted in December 2024 when Wooden’s defense team called on NJIT undergraduate Mia LoRé and alumni Carmen Cheung and Gillian Kongnyuy, all working as digital forensic technicians with New Jersey-based consulting firm eForensix.

“What stood out to us in the case was that the prosecution had no concrete evidence placing Wooden at the scene, yet he was incarcerated for over a year,” said Cheung, who received her bachelor’s in forensic science in 2024. “It was frustrating to see how far the case had gone without a solid foundation.”

The team began working the case a month later, analyzing cellphone records from Wooden’s wireless provider — the first step in their months-long investigation to piece together a precise data trail establishing Wooden’s whereabouts during the alleged incidents.

“One of the first principles taught in NJIT’s forensic program is that forensic scientists don’t work for the government or the client, but for justice,” said LoRé, a double major in forensic science and law, technology and culture. “Despite the evidence that compelled the courts initially, we dug deeper and followed the data to the truth, ultimately granting Mr. Wooden his deserved freedom.”

The team’s initial analysis of phone records persuaded the court to order the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to turn over Wooden’s device to eForensix. Once in their hands, the phone’s data was forensically extracted and analyzed in detail.

“The most unusual aspect of this case was having direct access to Mr. Wooden’s phone,” said Kongnyuy ’23, the first graduate of NJIT’s forensic science program’s digital forensics concentration. “Typically, law enforcement provides extracted data, but here the judge ordered the prosecution to hand over the device so we could perform our own extraction. This allowed us to ensure the data was collected carefully and completely. We then focused our analysis on the dates related to the incidents, reviewing text messages, photos, location data and other digital artifacts.”

The team’s analysis would conclusively show Wooden’s phone was never near the residence involved during the reported shootings. It also helped demonstrate that Wooden had possession of his phone throughout.

“One of the key steps was analyzing location data, which we plotted using a mapping tool called Caltopo. At the exact time of one alleged incident, the phone was at a storage unit and a text message sent by Mr. Wooden confirmed he was there,” Cheung explained. “That alignment between the phone’s data and his real-time message helped establish that he had the phone and was not at the scene.”

“In the end, all the information we found was right there on his phone, completely overlooked by the prosecutors,” added Kongnyuy. “It made me wonder how many other individuals are locked up, potentially innocent, with exonerating evidence sitting on their devices.”

In July, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office dismissed all charges. City police have since launched an investigation into the false allegations that led to Wooden’s incarceration.

“When we spoke with Mr. Wooden after the case was dismissed, the joy and relief in his voice made all the time and effort we put into the case feel incredibly meaningful,” Kongnyuy said. “It was a powerful reminder of why the work we do matters.”

For LoRé, the case offered an experience she says may have already influenced her career aspirations.

“Applying what I’ve been learning in the classroom was rewarding, but seeing how the justice system let Ray Wooden down has inspired me to seek truth from every side of the courtroom,” said LoRé, who’s beginning her senior year at NJIT. “Eventually, I would love to bring honesty and integrity to the prosecution to prevent unfortunate cases like this from the beginning of an investigation.”

Wooden’s case marks the second time in two years where members of NJIT’s forensic science program have helped exonerate wrongly imprisoned individuals. In 2023, an NJIT team’s crime scene reconstruction of a 1994 Queens, N.Y., shooting cleared two men who had spent a combined 37 years behind bars after being wrongly convicted of murder.

“The exceptional work of our NJIT forensic science students and alumni demonstrates how our graduates are making significant and lasting contributions to forensic science by ensuring truthful and just outcomes in the criminal justice system,” said NJIT Forensic Science Program Director David Fisher.