Text Messages and Evidentiary Procedures

California's continuing education blog talks about how an attorney gets text messages into evidence through 1) relevance, and 2) authentication.

And states the following:

"A prosecutor in Pennsylvania learned this lesson the hard way, having a drug conviction overturned because of hearsay text messages. As with all evidence, the key is authentication."

"Text messages can be authenticated under California law through:
•Direct testimony of a witness who saw the messages created or executed (Evid C §1413);
•Distinctive characteristics of the message itself (Evid C §1421); and
•Circumstantial proof of authenticity (see Evid C §1410)."

Or the text message can be self-authenticated via a reply.

As the bar examiners kept pace with the changing landscape of the law, it wouldn't be too strange to see a text message crop up in a evidence essay, now would it?

http://blog.ceb.com/

See "Evidence"