Can the prosecutor read my text messages?

Posted by Kevin W Frye at 1 May 2008, 6:59 PM and is filed under Interesting,MS Criminal Procedure
In every criminal case the defendant is entitled to "discovery" from the prosecutor.  Discovery is the term lawyers use to describe the evidence gathered in the case against the defendant, which can include witness statements, investigation reports, audio and video recordings, and a myriad of other documents which tend to prove or disprove the defendant's guilt.  In many cases the prosecutor will subpoena phone records in an effort to establish an important fact - an example being that the defendant spoke with a certain person on a certain date and at a certain time.  The prosecutor's use of phone records is limited, in that the records generally only show that a call was placed or received, when it occurred, and how long it lasted.  Text messages are another story. 

Today, Slate published this article on the availability of text message data from various wireless carriers.  The article focuses on the sex scandal currently surrounding Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.  An excerpt:

If you delete an old text message, can someone (or his lawyer) still find it?

Probably not—although there are exceptions. Most cell phone carriers don't permanently save the enormous amount of text-message data that is sent between users every day. AT&T Wireless, for example, says it keeps sent text messages for 48 hours only—after that, they are wiped off the system. Sprint, on the other hand, keeps messages on its server for approximately two weeks. A court order could force a carrier to retain certain messages as part of an ongoing investigation, but it would probably be impossible to get the contents of a 2002 text message from most cell phone companies.

But as the Detroit Free Press noted after it uncovered the first trove of messages in January, Kilpatrick got in trouble because he used a government-issued SkyTel pager. SkyTel—which does much of its business through government and corporate contracts—offers message archiving as one of its key features.

I can think of many scenarios in criminal cases where text message data could be very damaging to a defendant.  Unlike typical phone records, records of text messages may allow the prosecutor to actually see what was said by and to the defendant.  The lesson?  Be careful what you say in a text message, your words might be around for some time.

 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this entry
  • No trackbacks exist for this entry.
Comments
  • No comments exist for this entry.
Leave a comment

 Enter the above security code (required)

 Name (required)

 Email (will not be published) (required)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.