Do you remember the reason I gave you yesterday, when I blogged about why you cannot delete social media posts or accounts once you anticipate you will be in a lawsuit? (see Do Not Delete Relevant Social Media Accounts or Posts During Lawsuits > Spoliation of Evidence)
That’s right, because “the law has a right to every man’s evidence” and, in this case, every woman’s evidence as well. As you read this story linked below, think about why it is so important that evidence such as this be preserved and then you will understand why destroying such evidence is punished by the courts.
Criminal Defense Attorney David R. Cohn, a partner at Wallin & Klarich, A Law Corporation, used social media as a tool to help get charges of forcible rape, sodomy by force and felony domestic violence dismissed for a client.
As part of the defense, Attorney Cohn uncovered thousands of messages exchanged between the accused and the alleged victim through Facebook that contradicted the alleged victim’s claims and proved any sexual conduct was consensual.
read more about how he did this in the following article: Attorney Uses Facebook to Get Rape, Sodomy, Domestic Violence Charges Dismissed.
About the author
Shawn Tuma is a lawyer who is experienced in representing and advising clients on digital business risk which includes complex digital information law and intellectual property issues. This includes things such as trade secrets litigation and misappropriation of trade secrets (under common law and the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act), unfair competition, and cyber crimes such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; helping companies with data security issues from assessing their data security strengths and vulnerabilities, helping them implement policies and procedures for better securing their data, preparing data breach incident response plans, leading them through responses to a data breach, and litigating disputes that have arisen from data breaches. Shawn is a partner at BrittonTuma, a boutique business law firm with offices near the border of Frisco and Plano, Texas which is located minutes from the District Courts of Collin County, Texas and the Plano Court of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas. He represents clients in lawsuits across the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex including state and federal courts in Collin County, Denton County, Dallas County, and Tarrant County, which are all courts in which he regularly handles cases (as well as throughout the nation pro hac vice). Tuma regularly serves as a consultant to other lawyers on issues within his area of expertise and also serves as local counsel for attorneys with cases in the District Courts of Collin County, Texas, the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, and the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas.
