Form 2220 Comments 2023-2024

Music. Hi, this is Mike Haber. Thanks for asking me. What is electronic evidence? Evidence comes in many forms and can be categorized with many different names. You've heard of direct, circumstantial, physical, testimonial, scientific. Well, when we use the term electronic evidence, what we're referring to are things that can be stored or transmitted in a digital form and later introduced in trial. Commonly used forms of electronic evidence include things like email, social media account histories, post comments, digital photographs, surveillance footage, ATM transaction logs, any file or document on a computer, be it a word processing file or a spreadsheet, internet browser histories, computer smartphone or tablet memory content or backups, printouts, GPS tracks logs, app histories, digital or video audio files, black information from cars or planes, even hotels' electronic door locking system logs. All of these things and basically anything that's either digital or electronic is potential electronic evidence. Like any other form of evidence, in order for electronic evidence to be admitted into a criminal case, one, it's got to be lawfully obtained, meaning not illegally acquired. Two, it's got to be subject to authentication, meaning whoever's trying to admit it has to lay the proper predicate. And three, it's got to be relevant, meaning it's got to tend to prove or disprove a material fact in the case. The bottom line with electronic evidence is every time you use a computer, smartphone, tablet, or other electronic device, and every time you post or appear or are tagged in social media, and every time you pass through a tollbooth or under a traffic camera, or in any of an uncountable number of other ways, electronic evidence that could potentially be admitted into evidence against you is being generated. Thank you for your question. I...