Social Media Evidence

By Richard A. Mann, Richard A. Mann PC

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled on April 30, 2015 in the case of Wilson v. State, in a case of first impression on the requirements under Rule 901, that the trial court in a murder trial did not commit error in allowing evidence of tweets alleged to be from the defendant.

The evidence was from a witness that testified that she had previously exchanged tweets with the defendant, some of which the defendant had tweeted pictures of the two of them. There was also a tweet with the weapons used under the same username.The court held that the threshold is: "'Absolute proof of authenticity is not required.' Fry, 885 N.E.2d at 748.”

Based upon this case, family law practitioners as well as all lawyers now may be able to admit the evidence from social media with someone who can state they are familiar with the account and have a basis for knowing that it is from the person in question. The case does not say the court must admit on such evidence but that it is not error to do so.

This is clearly going to make social media easier to introduce in cases.

This post was contributed by Richard A. Mann, Richard A. Mann PC. If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Litigation Section page, please email Rachel Beachy at rbeachy@indybar.org.