Be careful what you post on social networking sites.
Last December, a couple (friends of a friend) came home to an empty house after vacationing abroad. They had both posted in their Facebook accounts that they were in Europe for a couple of weeks.
In the US, a guy charged with robbery was set free when his alibi was corroborated by Facebook records. He was elsewhere while the robbery was happening.
Also in the US, a guy posted on MySpace that he was on the run after he robbed a bank.
In New York, police use Twitter to prevent gang wars, by monitoring the tweets of gang members.
With a huge chunk of our lives converted into virtual reality by the social networking sites, it was only a matter of time before Facebook or Twitter or MySpace would be used to prosecute and prevent crimes. It could be used to prove intent (or lack thereof), motive (if important at all), and location of suspect.
In my class readings, I have yet to come across a case that features evidence from Facebook or other social networking sites. But I have no doubt as to its value for prosecuting and defending causes.
If only the robbers in the first example above were as dumb as the robber in the third, my friend's friends could have gotten their justice, or at least their things back.
Christopher John P. Lao
Entry No. 16
Image:
http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v1/yt/r/FZaMKqARgC6.png
Source:
Joseph Goldstein, “In Social Media Postings, a Trove for Investigators”, published March 2, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/nyregion/03facebook.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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