UNC School of Government Articles on Digital Evidence

UNC School of Government posts on digital evidence:

• Fourth Circuit Strongly Suggests Including Temporal Limitations on Search Warrants for Social Media Account Information – May 15, 2024 post by Jeff Welty
• Surveillance Video- When It Comes In and When It Doesn’t – Mar. 25, 2024 post by Daniel Spiegel
• May An Officer Ask a Business to Execute a Search Warrant on Itself? – Jan. 31, 2024 post by Jeff Welty
• The Abandonment of Digital Devices – Nov. 15, 2023 post by Jeff Welty
• Authenticating Photographs Obtained from Social Media Platforms – May 1, 2023 post by Jeff Welty
• How Can a Party Show Authorship of a Social Media Post or Other Electronic Communication? – Apr. 17, 2023 post by Jeff Welty
• Artificial Intelligence and the Courts – Oct. 27, 2022 post by Shea Denning
• Search Warrants for Digital Devices and the Requirement that Warrants be Executed within 48 Hours – May 2, 2022 post by Jeff Welty
• Business Records: Posts, Chats, and Texts – Mar. 9, 2021 blog post by Jonathan Holbrook
• New Guidance on Authenticating Social Media – Dec. 8, 2020 blog post by Jonathan Holbrook
• Conducting Surveillance and Collecting Location Data in a Post-Carpenter World, Part II – Oct. 5, 2020 blog post by Shea Denning.
• Conducting Surveillance and Collecting Location Data in a Post-Carpenter World, Part I – Sept. 28, 2020 blog post by Shea Denning.
• New Video Tech, Same Old Rules – Mar. 12, 2020 blog post by Johnathan Holbrook.
• Is a Written Transcript the “Best Evidence” of a Recording? – Sept. 10, 2019 blog post by Johnathan Holbrook.
• NC Supreme Court Weighs in on State v. Terrell and Private Search Doctrine – Aug. 28, 2019 blog post by Shea Denning.
• Body Camera Footage May Now Be Released for “Suspect Identification or Apprehension” – Aug. 26, 2019 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Pole Cameras after Carpenter – July 31, 2019 blog post by Shea Denning
• Geofencing Warrants – July 30, 2019 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• May Search Warrants for Cell Phones Include Connected Cloud Services? – June 24, 2019 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Delays in Obtaining Search Warrants for Digital Devices – June 10, 2019 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Warrantless Use of Drones – May 13, 2019 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Carpenter, Search Warrants, and Court Orders Based on Probable Cause – July 30, 2018 by Jeff Welty.
• Search Warrants Authorizing Law Enforcement Computer Hacking and Malware – July 23, 2018 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Supreme Court Rules that Obtaining Cell Site Location Information Is a Search – June 25, 2018 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Obtaining and Admitting Evidence from a Vehicle’s Black Box – Feb. 14, 2018 blog post by Shea Denning.
• When a Person Commits a Crime, Is There Probable Cause to Search the Person’s Phone for Evidence? – Jan. 30, 2018 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Real-Time Cell Phone Tracking Update, Including a New Case – Jan. 29, 2018 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Discovery of Officers’ Text Messages – Jan. 8, 2018 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Questions and Resources about Searches of Cloud Storage – Dec. 13, 2017 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• New Cases Hold that Using a Stingray Is a Search – Oct. 16, 2017 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• State v. Thompson Tells a Tale of Two Facebook Screenshots – Oct. 11, 2017 blog post by Shea Denning.
• U.S. Supreme Court Preview: Carpenter v. United States – Sept. 25, 2017 blog post by Jessie Smith.
• Serial, Cell Site Location Information, and Experts . . . on a Wednesday – Sept. 20, 2017 blog post by Shea Denning.
• Facial Recognition, Biometric Identification, and the Fifth Amendment – Sept. 18, 2017 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Update on Fingerprints, Phones, and the Fifth Amendment – Jan. 23, 2017 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Persistent Aerial Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment – Dec. 12, 2016 blog post by Jeff Welty.
• Caught on Camera – Oct. 5, 2016 blog post by Shea Denning.
• Probable Cause and Search Warrants for Cell Phones – Oct. 3, 2016 blog post by Jeff Welty.

• Pole Camera Surveillance Under the Fourth Amendment – July 12, 2016 post by Bob Farb.
• One Case, Two Ways of Authenticating Video – June 27, 2016 post by Jeff Welty.
• Fourth Circuit Reverses Graham: No Warrant Required for Historical Cell Site Location Information – June 6, 2016 post by Jeff Welty.
• State Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals Regarding Authentication of Surveillance Video – Apr. 18, 2016 post by Jeff Welty.
• Court of Appeals Upholds Admissibility of Social Media Evidence Based on Circumstantial Evidence of Authenticity – Mar. 7, 2016 post by Jeff Welty.
• State v. Perry, Cell Site Location Information, and the Exclusionary Rule – Sept. 21, 2015 post by Jeff Welty.
• Can a Magistrate Issue a Search Warrant for a Computer or a Cell Phone? – Sept. 1, 2015 post by Jeff Welty.
• Advice to Officers After Graham – Aug. 25, 2015 post by Jeff Welty about how United States v. Graham applies in NC.
• Fourth Circuit: Cell Site Location Information Requires a Search Warrant – Aug. 10, 2015 post by Jeff Welty about United States v. Graham, a 4th Circuit opinion holding that obtaining cell site location information through a court order under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) constituted an unreasonable warrantless search.
• Important New Opinion on Cell Phone Tracking – May 7, 2015 post by Jeff Welty about an 11th Circuit opinion holding that law enforcement may obtain historical cell site location information without a search warrant, using a court order based on less than probable cause.
• Recent Case on Authentication of Surveillance Video – Feb. 19, 2015 post by Jeff Welty
• Authenticating Social Media Evidence – Dec. 2, 2014 post by Jessica Smith
• Search Warrants for Digital Devices – this 2014 article by Jeff Welty discusses requirements for search warrants for digital devices. The intended audience is law enforcement offices, but the article contains footnotes with citations to legal authority.
• Stingrays – Oct. 22, 2014 post by Jeff Welty on IMSI catchers that simulate cell towers and connect with cell phones nearby.
• Computer Searches and Plain View – Nov. 21, 2013 post by Jeff Welty
• Returns and Inventories for Computer Search Warrants – Nov. 19, 2013 post by Jeff Welty, provides information on requirements for returns and inventories for computer search warrants.
• Testimony about Tracking – Oct. 22, 2013 post by Jeff Welty, provides an overview of case law on testimony regarding GPS tracking and cell tower tracking.
• Shea Denning’s October 2012 North Carolina Criminal Law blog post, State v. Wilkerson and the Authentication of Electronic Evidence, provides an overview of North Carolina case law on the authentication of text messages.
• Georgia Case on Searching Cell Phones Incident to Arrest – Analysis of a recent decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals (Hawkins v. State) regarding searches of cell phone data incident to arrest.
• Authentication and Hearsay Issues with Phone Records – This post considers whether hearsay and authentication objections can be overcome where the state seeks to introduce a defendant’s phone records using an affidavit stating the phone records are business records.
• Discovery in Child Pornography Cases – Discussion of the discovery process in child pornography cases and whether a copy of the defendant’s hard drive may be provided so that a defense expert can analyze it.
• Sexting – Inquires about the possibilities of criminal prosecution for sexting (sending pornographic digital images via text message) by minors.
• Computer Searches and the Scope of Consent – Suggests a possible application of traditional notions of scope of consent in computer searches by law enforcement.
• Encrypted Computer Files and the Fifth Amendment – Discusses the legal and technical challenges of accessing encrypted files on a suspect’s computer, including consideration of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
• Warrantless Searches of Computers and Other Electronic Devices – Includes a link to a list of list of cases on subjects such as cell phones searches incident to arrest, whether a consensual search of a residence includes the computers there, and privacy expectations in laptop issued by an employer.
• The Second Look Doctrine, Part I and Part II – This two-part post covers the “second look” doctrine, which holds that if the police looked at, or could have looked at an item, such as a cell phone, during the arrest and booking process and are still in possession of the item, they can take a second look at it later, without a warrant, without violating the Fourth Amendment. The first post explains the doctrine; the second addresses some issues of applying it, including whether there is a probable cause requirement.
• Searching Cell Phones for Evidence of Texting While Driving – Examines the investigative authority of officers attempting to enforce laws against texting while driving.