Steve Izzett had a thing for watches.
But that was among the limited information recovered from the IBM ThinkPad Izzett turned over to police after he was suspended in Sept. 2008, said Steve Rogers, president of Digital Evidence International.
Rogers was testifying at the former Toronto police staff inspector’s disciplinary hearing Wednesday.
As part of the internal investigation into allegations Izzett sexually harassed an officer, Rogers, a computer forensic analyst, said he examined Izzett’s work laptop and found three watch websites bookmarked. Twenty different watch websites turned up in the Internet history.
By his calculation, some 29,000 files were deleted from the hard drive, nearly all after Sept. 20, 2008, a day after Izzett was suspended as unit commander of the Intelligence bureau.
In addition, the laptop’s Internet history indicated the user had searched for file wiping software, Rogers testified.
He also found evidence that five different types of “wiping” software were used to erase files a minimum of seven times between Sept. 20 and Oct. 14, Rogers said.
Wiping software leaves little evidence of the type of data that existed.
Defence lawyer Leo Kinahan challenged the accuracy of how many files were actually deleted, suggesting the number had been grossly inflated.
His client has acknowledged deleting data relating to family matters.
Izzett, 47, is charged with nine counts of misconduct under the Police Services Act. He has pleaded not guilty.
Some of the charges relate to two Toronto Police Service laptops Izzett had in his possession after allegedly claiming he did not. Izzett has said there was a misunderstanding.
Rogers also Wednesday confirmed the existence of a document on the laptop central to the prosecution’s case. It was contained in a “work” folder found under Izzett’s name.
“It could be considered hiding in plain sight,” Rogers said. The female complainant says Izzett copied the document about the origins of homosexuality, called The Great Nature Nurture Debate, onto her USB drive after she disclosed to him she was in a same-sex relationship. She turned it over to investigators after launching her complaint.
Most of the document’s contents are found on a website belonging to Messiah Christian college in the United States, Rogers said.
He also testified he could not say conclusively if Izzett had searched the home address of the female complainant, as had been alleged in previous testimony.
Kinahan asked if there wasn’t a more “really obvious” conclusion.
“It was never searched at all,” Rogers replied.
“Bingo,” Kinahan said.
The hearing continues Thursday.
Source:http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/997051–wiping-software-found-on-accused-cop-s-computer-says-expert