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According to MahaloLearnMore.com “In January 2012, Youtube was hitting over 4 billion views a day, more than double the number of daily views they had just 18 months prior. According to its press statistics, YouTube receives approximately 800 million unique visitors each month, with more than 4 billion hours of video watched monthly. In terms of social media, Facebook users watch 500 years of YouTube videos daily. One of the reasons for Youtube’s popularity is that it makes everyone a filmmaker; anyone at all can create a user account and upload to youtube, and anyone with internet access can watch video content for free, with or without a login.” Singers have gotten their big break, anamials have made us laugh and we can look up how to do almost anything on Youtube. And now Youtube can be used as evidence in criminal charges. Social Media is the newest form of criminal evidence. Information gleaned from Facebook postings and other social media communications have been allowed as evidence, providing a judge believes the information is directly relevant to a case and not a blatant violation of someone’s privacy. Even if you are not knowingly the subject of a criminal investigation you should be aware that your Facebook postings are not private. Obviously whoever you have “friended” is privy to your postings depending on your privacy levels. Any of these people may easily take a screen shot of any posting you make. The same is true for text messages. The textee can take a screen shot of your text message and it is no longer yours to control. Postings on other social media networks such as Twitter are similarly subject to criminal prosecution if the content is deemed threatening or otherwise suspected to be of a criminal nature. Last week USA TODAY reported the following story about Matthew Cordle who confessed to vehicular homicide on You Tube. To see the entire article and view the confession click here. Matthew Cordle, 22, admits getting drunk and driving the wrong way on I-670 near Columbus, crashing into a jeep and killing its driver. “My name is Mathew Cordle and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani,” Cordle says in the video posted Friday. “This video will act as my confession. When i get charged, I will plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything I’ve done to Vincent and his family… I won’t dishoner Vincent’s memory by lying about what happened.” Cordle says in the video that after the crash he spoke with “some high-powered attorneys” who told him that it might be possible to get his blood test thrown out. He said they told him of “about similar cases where the drivers got off. “All I would have to do is lie. I won’t go down that path.”

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Canzani’s ex-wife, Cheryl Oates, told fox6now.comthat Cordle’s remorse appeared genuine and that she was encouraged that he took responsibility for his actions. Still, the mother of two sons said she felt Cordle should spend some time in prison. “It’s gut-wrenching coming from a mother looking at that young boy, and he just doesn’t understand the damage that he did,” she told the website. George Breitmayer III, a Columbus lawyer representing Cordle, told The Columbus Dispatch that he was unaware his client was posting the confession. “This video he released demonstrates his character, bravery and integrity, and I know he fully intends to cooperate with law enforcement and Franklin County prosecutors throughout the course of any future criminal proceedings,” Breitmayer told the Dispatch. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien told the Dispatch he watched Cordle’s video three times. “It’s the most compelling video I think I have seen. He strikes me as remorseful and sincere,” O’Brien said. O’Brien said he will ask grand jurors on Monday to indict Cordle on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide. The second-degree felony carries a prison sentence of two to eight years. O’Brien told fox6now that the video has not influenced him to recommend a lighter sentence. “We had a case against him based on the evidence as I know it before the video was filmed,” he told the website. Breitmayer said the video was not posted in an effort to gain a shorter prison sentence. On the recording, Cordle says he “can’t bring Mr. Canzani back. I can’t erase what I’ve done,” but says “I beg you, and I say the word beg specifically, I’m begging you, please don’t drink and drive.” John Bacon, USA TODAY When you are in need of a criminal defence attorney, in Bergen County, New Jersey, Aretsky & Aretsky Attorneys at Law are equiped to defend you. They have successfully prevented charges from being filed, negotiated for lesser charges, and obtained acquittals in a wide range of criminal defense matters. From cases involving DUIs, traffic violations and driving while suspended, to cases involving drug offenses, shoplifting, and assaults, their criminal defense attorneys have the skill, experience, and tenacity necessary to secure positive outcomes for their clients. Aretsky & Aretsky Attornenys can be reached at the Ridgewood Office 257 E. Ridgewood Ave., Suite 303 Ridgewood, NJ 07450, Phone: (201) 996-0234 or https://www.aretsky-law.com/.

What you say on Facebook can and will be used against you.

That is, if a judge believes the request for someone’s Facebook postings is more than just a fishing expedition. Information gleaned from Facebook postings and other social media communications has been allowed as evidence when judges believe that the information is directly relevant to a case and not a blatant violation of someone’s privacy.

Facebook Activity Found to be Relevant

There are plenty of cases where judges have allowed attorneys to use information from Facebook postings, evidence that is often pivotal to the case. Just a few weeks ago, a Colorado judge ordered a man to produce Facebook postings that could provide evidence of his alleged emotional distress and physical injury. James D. Moore is suing Denver and two city police officers for alleged excessive force during an arrest on March 25, 2008. “Mr. Moore’s Facebook activity is relevant to his claims of emotional pain and suffering (for which he claims $750,000 in damages), as well as his claims of physical pain ($750,000) and humiliation ($500,000),” U.S. Senior District Judge John L. Kane wrote in his June 6 ruling.

Judge Orders All Facebook Postings

Moore had already produced selected portions of his Facebook postings that he said was relevant to the arrest, but the judge said in his ruling that Moore must produce his Facebook activity log, in addition to all of his Facebook postings as evidence of his state of mind before and after the arrest and possible evidence of his alleged physical and mental harm. “Mr. Moore reputedly has chosen to share his version of events online often and in many different forums … Defendants are entitled to know of these accounts,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Judges Don’t Like Broad Requests

However, judges do frown upon broad requests for someone’s social media communications. A few weeks earlier, a Florida judge ruled against a request for a sheriff’s deputy social media, cell phone and e-mail communications in a wrongful death suit against Marion County sheriff’s deputies. Vincent Salvato had sought the information in the hopes of finding evidence that could prove Deputy Norman Brown and Deputy Lauren Miley used excessive force and failed to provide timely medical care, resulting in his son’s death. Joshua Salvato died July 6, 2012 of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Judge Said Request Was a “Fishing Expedition”

Vincent Salvato requested all of Brown’s communications (with the sole exception of any between Brown and his attorney), but the judge said the request was a “fishing expedition.” “(Salvato) has failed to make a threshold that the requested information is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Philip R. Lammens said in his June 11 ruling. Photo credit: dannysullivan