“I SAW IT ON FACEBOOK, NOW HOW DO I USE IT AT TRIAL?” MICHAEL SAWICKI (with special assistance from Brandi Concienne) Sawicki & Lauten, L.L.P. 4040 N. Central Expressway, Ste. 850 Dallas, Texas 75204 (214) 468-8844 (214) 468-8845 (Fax) [email protected] State Bar of Texas 3RD ANNUAL BUSINESS TORTS INSTITUTE 2011 October 13 – 14, 2011 Houston CHAPTER 20 “I Saw It On Facebook, Now How Do I Use It At Trial?” Chapter 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 1 II. THE IMPACT OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ................................................................................ 1 A. Kwame Kilpatrick ........................................................................................................................................... 2 B. Twitter Verdict ................................................................................................................................................ 4 C. Facebook DWI ................................................................................................................................................ 5 III. SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ........................................................................................................................... 5 IV. WHAT CAN YOU FIND ON FACEBOOK? ........................................................................................................ 7 V. MYSPACE FEATURES ......................................................................................................................................... 9 A. Bulletins......................................................................................................................................................... 10 B. Groups ........................................................................................................................................................... 10 C. MySpaceIM ................................................................................................................................................... 10 D. MySpaceTV ................................................................................................................................................... 10 E. Applications ................................................................................................................................................... 10 F. MySpace Mobile ........................................................................................................................................... 10 G. MySpace News .............................................................................................................................................. 10 H. MySpace Classifieds ..................................................................................................................................... 11 I. MySpace Karaoke ......................................................................................................................................... 11 J. MySpace Polls ............................................................................................................................................... 11 K. MySpace forums ............................................................................................................................................ 11 VI OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES .......................................................................................................... 11 A. Orkut .............................................................................................................................................................. 11 B. Linked In ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 C. Ryze.com ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 D. Affluence.org ................................................................................................................................................. 12 E. Buzznet.com .................................................................................................................................................. 12 F. DeviantArt ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 G. Reunion.com .................................................................................................................................................. 12 H. VampireFreaks.com ...................................................................................................................................... 13 I. Windows Live Spaces ................................................................................................................................... 13 J. Twitter ........................................................................................................................................................... 13 VII. PRIVACY AND SECURITY ............................................................................................................................... 14 VIII. USING SOCIAL NETWORK EVIDENCE IN COURT ..................................................................................... 14 A. Discovery Issues ............................................................................................................................................ 14 B. Comment Number 3 to the Rule states .......................................................................................................... 15 C. Finding Social Networking Evidence ............................................................................................................ 15 D. Legal issues- General Concerns About Admissibility of Social Networking Evidence ................................ 16 E. Authentication ............................................................................................................................................... 16 F. Authentication under the Federal Rules ........................................................................................................ 17 G. Relevance and undue prejudice ..................................................................................................................... 17 H. Hearsay .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 I. Best evidence ................................................................................................................................................. 18 IX. OTHER USES OF SOCIAL NETWORKING EVIDENCE ................................................................................ 18 A. Jury Selection ................................................................................................................................................ 18 i “I Saw It On Facebook, Now How Do I Use It At Trial?” Chapter 20 B. Current Texas Social Networking Cases ....................................................................................................... 19 1. Mann v. Department of Family and Protective Services, 2009 WL 2961396 (Tex.App.-Houston [1 Dist.], 2009) ...................................................................................................... 19 2. Munoz v. State, 2009 WL 695462 (Tex. App. – Corpus Christi 2009) ................................................. 19 3. Draker v. Schrieber, 271 S.W.3d 318, (Tex. App. – San Antonio 2008, no writ) ................................. 20 4. In Re Rodney Reed, 2009 WL 97260 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (not reported) ...................................... 20 5. Williford v. State, 127 S.W.3d 309 (Tex. App.‐ Eastland 2004) ........................................................... 20 C. Social Networking Cases outside of Texas ................................................................................................... 20 1. State v. Altajir, 123 Conn.App. 674, --- A.2d ----, 2010 WL 3489049 (Conn. App. 2010) .................. 20 2. Jabbar v. Travel Services, Inc., 2010 WL 3563112 (D.Puerto Rico, 2010) .......................................... 20 3. Griffin v. State, 192 Md.App. 518, 995 A.2d 791 (Md.App., 2010) ..................................................... 21 4. Crispin v. Christian Audigier, Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2010 WL 2293238 (C.D.Cal., 2010) ............... 23 5. Bass ex rel. Bass v. Miss Porter's School, 2009 WL 3724968 (D.Conn., 2009) .................................. 24 6. Maldonado v. Municipality of Barceloneta, 2009 WL 636016 (D.Puerto Rico, 2009)......................... 24 X. CASES OF GENERAL INTEREST ..................................................................................................................... 24 A. Email Authentication ..................................................................................................................................... 24 1. U.S. v. Sidiqui, (11th Cir. 2000) 235 F.3d 1318 .................................................................................... 24 2. People v. Von Gunten, (2002 Cal.App.3d Dist.) 2002 WL 501612. [Unpublished.] ............................ 25 B. On-line Evidence Admissibility