Tag:Admissibility

Key Insight: Court upheld the Commonwealth?s request to establish the school zone applicability using measurements from Google Earth upon finding that the measurement was properly authenticated by testimony that the accuracy of the measurement had been verified by comparing Google Earth?s results to a known distance between two points as established by independent, manual measuremen

Nature of Case: Drug charges

Electronic Data Involved: Google Earth measurement

Key Insight: Court declined to consider printouts allegedly from the Internet Archive?s Wayback Machine where plaintiff failed to properly authenticate them by providing an affidavit from an employee of the Internet Archive to verify the pages

Nature of Case: Trademark Infringement

Electronic Data Involved: Print outs from Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine

Key Insight: Court held GPS data was properly admitted as a business record where the state presented testimony of an employee for the GPS monitoring company who explained how the monitoring system worked and the testimony of appellant?s probation officer who explained how he accessed the GPS database and printed the exhibits introduced, and where the probation officer had previously tested the accuracy of the GPS system by taking appellant to different locations and checking the accuracy of the monitoring data

Nature of Case: Probation revocation

Electronic Data Involved: GPS monitoring data

Key Insight: Appellate court upheld trial court?s admission of digital recordings into evidence where tapes were authenticated by officer?s testimony that that the device used for recording had been used more than 100 times and that that the recording was downloaded directly to a computer and then transferred to CDs specifically identified at trial, and where informant testified that the recordings ?fairly and accurately depicted the events of the [recorded transaction]?

Nature of Case: Criminal drug trafficking

Electronic Data Involved: Digital recordings of alleged drug sale to informant

Key Insight: Appellate court affirmed lower court?s finding that plaintiff failed to lay a proper foundation for the admission of a printed electronic spreadsheet where, although plaintiff?s agent averred the spreadsheet was kept in the usual course of business, the agent failed to establish his familiarity with plaintiff?s business practices and ?when, how, or by whom? the spreadsheet was made and where the agent failed to establish that the printed spreadsheet was a true and accurate representation of the electronic record

Nature of Case: Breach of contract

Electronic Data Involved: Printed electronic spreadsheet

Key Insight: Where a jury discovered and considered text messages not authenticated separately from a properly admitted cell phone, court found that text messages must be separately authenticated before admission into evidence but declined to find grounds for reversal of defendant?s conviction where the error was harmless in the context of the other evidence against him

Nature of Case: Felony possession of methamphetamines

Electronic Data Involved: Text messages

Key Insight: Where authentication ?is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims?, court rejected argument that only the author could authenticate and found email was properly authenticated by the testimony of the person who ?personally retrieved the email from [the relevant] computer?

Nature of Case: Violations of Americans with Disabilities Act

Electronic Data Involved: Email

Key Insight: Trial court did not abuse discretion in granting plaintiff?s motion to strike defendants? affidavit and attached emails where emails were not properly authenticated; appellate court found defendants? reliance on Willis v. Hill, 116 Ga. App. 848 (1967) to appeal the trial court?s ruling was misplaced where Willis held that ?”[u]pon production of copies pursuant to a notice to produce, the producing party admits the correctness of the copies and further proof is unnecessary in order for the moving party[, i.e., the requesting party,] to introduce them into evidence? but where in the present case the emails sought to be admitted were produced by defendants, i.e. the party seeking their admission, and thus Willis was inapplicable

Nature of Case: Breach of contract, collect on open account

Electronic Data Involved: Emails

Key Insight: Trial court?s ruling allowing admission of transcripts of online chats into evidence was affirmed where such evidence was considered ??original? in the context of computers? under the rules of evidence and thus satisfied the Best Evidence Rule; court reasoned that even if the transcripts had not satisfied Best Evidence Rule, transcripts were admissible as copies because the originals had been destroyed, but not in bad faith, and the transcripts (?duplicates?) were authenticated by the officer?s testimony regarding how the transcripts were created and the reliability of their content

Nature of Case: Internet stalking

Electronic Data Involved: Transcripts of online chat

Key Insight: Trial court erred in admitting computer generated animation allegedly depicting the events that lead to trial where State failed to provide notice of its intent to use the animation, where the animation was created by a non-expert witness who lacked personal knowledge of the events, and where the State failed to lay a foundation for the evidence based on the incorrect assumption that the animation was merely demonstrative; appellate court determined animation was more prejudicial than probative where it did not merely illustrate a witness?s testimony but rather was ?a collage of information? from each of the State?s witnesses presented as fact

Nature of Case: Attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, attempted armed robbery

Electronic Data Involved: Computer generated animation