If the police charge you with a crime in Pennsylvania, social media, text messages, and cell phone evidence can prove you did not commit the crime. Criminal cases involving mobile devices are very common. In the following blog post, I explain how to use cellphone evidence to win your criminal case.
Can a Cell Phone Be Used as Evidence in Court?
Yes. Before its introduction into evidence, the party offering the cell phone evidence must prove that it is authentic. Once the authenticity of the evidence is established, criminal defense lawyers use cell phone evidence in court to disprove simple assault, aggravated assault, sex offenses, retail theft, and other serious crimes.
Why is Text Message Evidence Important in a Criminal Case?
Many people communicate by texting apps exclusively today. As a criminal defense lawyer, I understand that text communications are often critical evidence establishing the innocence of persons charged with many crimes.
How Can Cellphone Video Evidence Help Me Win my Criminal Case?
Almost everyone possesses an Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy phone, Google Pixel phone, or another type of smartphone. Today, cell phones capture video recordings of virtually any event, from family events to notorious public incidents.
As a result, someone will use their cellphone camera to film most physical altercations, disturbances, and other types of criminal activity. Cellphone video evidence can be critical in establishing a legal defense against a crime.
Examples include proving you were acting in self-defense in an assault case or showing that you were at a different location than the crime scene in an alibi defense case.
Mobile Phone Forensic Expert
For the strongest defense, I will employ a forensic mobile phone data recovery specialist to analyze your phone or the phone of a third party with permission.
The forensic specialist will perform a cell phone data extraction. The results of the phone data dump will often produce evidence proving the innocence of the accused. Examples of exculpatory evidence that can be recovered from a mobile phone include:
- Establishing that another person used your phone without permission
- Recovering deleted data from your mobile device that demonstrates you are innocent
- Retrieving cell phone tower geolocation that proves you were not at the location of the crime
Cell Phone Attorney
Have the police charged you with a crime involving cell phone evidence? If so, I am highly experienced in acquiring, preserving, and presenting cell phone evidence in criminal cases to prove your innocence.
My criminal defense practice area includes Montgomery County, Philadelphia County, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, and the neighboring Pennsylvania Counties. Contact me at (215) 752-5282 or fill out the contact form for a free assessment of your case.
Proving Consent in a Pennsylvania Sexual Crime Case
The Pennsylvania Crimes Code contains many sex crimes. The most common sexual offenses the police will charge include rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault. In many cases, there is no physical evidence, and the prosecutor’s evidence relies entirely on the accuser’s statements.
Consent is a legal defense to most sexual offenses in Pennsylvania in cases where the accuser is an adult.
Most juries will not convict the accused if the accused presents evidence of text messages or voicemail messages between the accused and the accuser demonstrating that the sexual encounter was consensual.
In many cases, I can bolster a consent defense to a sex crime by presenting photos or video evidence proving that both parties consented to the sexual activity.
How Digital Evidence Can Establish an Alibi Defense
In Pennsylvania, an alibi defense places you at a different location from the crime scene. An alibi proves that it was impossible for you to have committed the crime.
In Pennsylvania, alibi evidence alone or combined with other evidence is sufficient to establish reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt. Also, a criminal jury must render a not guilty verdict if they believe the accused has established an alibi for the crime.
Different forms of digital evidence can be highly persuasive in proving an alibi defense to a crime.
What are Different Types of Alibi Evidence?
Alibi evidence can come in many different forms. The common feature of all alibi evidence is that it establishes that you were not at the location of the crime and, therefore, could not have committed the criminal act. Examples of alibi evidence include:
- Testimony from a person who was with you at a different location at the time of the crime
- Cell phone video showing you at an alternate location at the time the crime occurred
- Surveillance video that places you at a different site than the place of the crime
- Cell tower “ping” records that establish that you were not present at the crime scene when the crime occurred.
An alibi defense, if believed, is a complete defense to a crime in Pennsylvania.
How the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Show Helped Free an Innocent Man
An unknown assailant murdered Martha Puebla outside her home in May 2003. During the police investigation, a witness described the murderer to the police.
The Police Investigation
The police believed the description matched the identity of Juan Catalan. Martha Puebla had recently testified in a double murder case involving Juan Catalan’s brother. The police suspected that Juan Catalan had killed Martha Puebla in retaliation for her testimony in his brother’s trial.
As a result, the police arrested Juan Catalan for the murder of Martha Puebla. Juan Catalan denied involvement in the murder but could not remember his whereabouts on the night of the murder. Unfortunately, he sat in jail for months without being able to make bail.
Investigating and Establishing the Alibi Defense
Fortunately, Juan Catalan’s girlfriend remembered that he was at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game with his daughter and other family members on the night of the murder.
Juan Catalan’s lawyer provided the police with tickets from the night of the game. However, the district attorney insisted on additional evidence to establish Mr. Catalan’s alibi. Mr. Catalan’s lawyer discovered that the HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was filming part of an episode on the night in question.
The District Attorney Dismisses the Charges
Mr. Catalan’s attorney reviewed the film from the show and discovered clear video footage showing John Catalan and his daughter walking to their seats in the stadium from the concession stand.
John Catalan corroborated the videotape evidence with cell phone records establishing that he was at the stadium on the night of the homicide. In light of the video and cell phone records evidence, the district attorney dismissed all charges against John Catalan and freed him from prison.
Preserve Text Messages to Build a Strong Defense
The primary ways to secure text messages as evidence include:
- Use the screen capture feature on your iPhone, Samsung, or Google device and email the texts to yourself
- Email or forward the text messages to a different device, such as a laptop computer
- Maintain two copies of the communications for yourself and your lawyer
- Make sure you are preserving the entire conversation, including your responses to the text messages
How Are Text Messages Authenticated in Court in Pennsylvania?
You can use text messages as part of your defense if you can show that the messages were sent or written by the accused by presenting the following evidence:
- Direct evidence, such as the testimony of a person who witnessed the accuser writing the text messages
- The accuser admits that they wrote the texts
- Identifying characteristics of the message that proves that the accuser wrote it
- Proof of ownership, possession, control, or access to a device or account at the relevant time when corroborated by evidence indicating that the accuser authored the message
Get Immediate Help from a Bucks County Criminal Defense Lawyer
Are you facing sexual assault, simple assault, or aggravated assault charges? Cellphone evidence may provide you with a powerful defense. I offer aggressive criminal defense to persons charged with crimes in Montgomery County, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, and the nearby Pennsylvania Counties.
Contact me at (215) 752-5282 for a free consultation of your case, or fill out the confidential contact form for an immediate response.
