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Can You Use Social Media Data in Your Orlando, Florida Marital and Family Law Case?

Whether you can use social media data in your Orlando, Florida Marital and Family Law Case depends on whether the data is:

1. Relevant-That is whether the data has bearing on the material issues in the case. 
2. Authenticity- Under Florida law evidence is authenticated when prima facile evidence is introduced to prove that proffered evidence is authentic. You can prove the authenticity of social media by:
   1. A witness with first hand knowledge-you call the person who wrote the post or someone who saw them write the post. 
   2. Extrinsic evidence is used when you do not have the author of the post or someone who saw the author write the post. You may be able to call the custodian of records of the social media data-the hosting platform and enter the evidence under Florida Statutes 90.803 and 90.902 under the theory that the digital evidence is self-authenticating. This will probably suffice unless you want to prove authorship. If you want to prove authorship, you will need to provide independent extrinsic evidence to prove authorship.  This may exist in the form of IP addresses or mailing addresses. You can do this by issuing a subpoena upon the ISP. This should give you the user’s account information associated with the IP address for the requested date range. The platform provider may have the user’s additional information including: user’s name, phone number and a recovery email address. It may also have: dates, times, and IP addresses each time a user logs in. 
   3. The silent witness theory. Under this theory evidence may be authenticated upon a presentation of proof of the reliability of the process that produced the evidence. 

All the above require demonstrating the indicia of reliability. 

You must also overcome any hearsay objections the other party may raise. You may do this by showing that it is an exception to the hearsay rule such as an admission by a party opponent. 

A key to entering social media evidence is applying the traditional predicates for the introduction of evidence. This is your basis for entering such evidence until further requirements address the introduction of social media evidence directly. 

If you have more questions regarding a Marital and Family Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. 

This article is for informational purposes only, and it does not form an attorney-client privilege.