Category Archives: Cases of Interest

e-Evidence Insights: Mars Needs Moms; But Science Needs Humans

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"It's an inexact science."  We've heard that phrase often.  But, how often have we heard it in reference to DNA?  Usually, we hear it more in terms of how it identifies a particular suspect with astronomically-high odds, such as, 'one-in-a-million'.  In other words, it must be him because mathematically, it couldn't possibly be anyone else.

Consider the very bad luck of our suspect in today's story:

 

  • A murder was committed.
  • The suspect's DNA was found on tape used to gag the victim.
  • Based on this evidence, he was promptly arrested.

Now, factor in the very good luck of our suspect in today's story:

  • He had an alibi.
  • He was able to prove it beyond all doubt (i.e, it wasn't his mother claiming that he'd been with her the entire time – he was in a hospital).

In fact, he was nowhere near the scene at the time of the murder; nor was he ever at the scene.  Yet, he spent five months in jail before he was eventually exonerated.

This appears to be a bizarre case of transference.

Furthermore, DNA is not necessarily like snowflakes; sometimes, two samples are identical (at least within the range that law-enforcement would feel comfortable arresting and prosecuting a suspect).

The moral of this story?  We rely on science; but sometimes, science must also rely on us.

Did Netflix CEO Violate Regulation “FB”?

MP900422415If you've already seen the headlines, you know that Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, has received a Wells Notice from the SEC.  They're considering taking action on a violation of Regulation FD due to an alleged 'material' disclosure on Facebook that Hastings posted to his 200,000+ subscribers back in July 2012.

The gist of the issue?  The SEC claims that those subscribers received an unfair advantage because they had access to the information in advance of the general public; and presumably traded based on that information.  Naturally, Hastings' view is contra.

Is it a violation?  I dunno.  We're going to see more of these issues arise as social media continues to wend its way into the corporate mainstream.

Attack on Mobile Location-Privacy ‘Warrants’ Review

MP900302888I always chuckle when I hear people refer to California as the 'land of fruits and nuts' and loudly proclaim that it's a 'liberal state'.  I concede, the state is blue – at least when one examines it at surface level – but when you drill down a little further, it's not quite that simple.

Example?  As far as privacy is concerned, you'd have better luck in Ohio (State v. Smith)…

Based on two events that took place this week, it's clear that California (or more accurately, the Governor of California) and the Federal government appear to be in lockstep re their attitude toward location privacy; they don't believe you're entitled to it.

Politics?  Of course, that always plays a role.  Lack of understanding of technology?  Let me put it this way; a lot of the arguments I see in support of the position against requiring a warrant go something like this:

"People are aware that their cellular devices disclose their location and, therefore, have no expectation of privacy."  Yes – in the same way that people who drive cars know how to rebuild the engines.  It's a self-serving argument, at best.  For the average Joe, a more honest side-by-side comparison is that people know how to plug in a charger about as well as they know how to insert a gas nozzle.

If you're worried about location privacy, I have two words for you – coarse location.

The Press: Shouting “Fire!” in an Empty Theater

MP900402060Forgive me for being missing in action the past week.  I had a rare criminal case come up at the last minute and spent the entire day in court, yesterday.  I was going to return with my summary of the Solo Summit, but due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act this morning, I decided to lead with this post, which I’d already been working on.

First of all, fear not; this isn’t about politics.  I originally became interested in posting on this issue after the Da Silva Moore case.  For the first time, I saw our area of practice descend into the sensationalism that annoys me with news reporting in general.  Specifically, it had to do with the accusations that were flying regarding Judge Peck’s supposed conflicts-of-interest in the case.

The same thing happened this morning.  CNN reported that the individual mandate was struck down.  At that very moment, CNBC was reporting that it was upheld.  Now, anyone who has followed Supreme Court decisions knows that one cannot read a sentence or two and think they know what the ruling is without reviewing the rest of the text.

But CNN, more interested in reporting a story, rather than reporting the story, rushed out with the wrong information.  Nothing new.  But, I saw the same issues with the Peck case.  First of all, as attorneys, we hear ad nauseam that the law is a marathon, not a sprint.  Reporting on every brief filed as if, taken on its own it’s somehow relevant, is a mistake, in my opinion.

I only touched on the case briefly – after most of the dust had settled – and predicted (not exactly hard to do) that there would be appeals that would likely change the outcome.  It pretty much ended up being a tempest in a teapot.

What’s my point?  As attorneys, we should forget about being first and concentrate on being accurate.  There will always be deadlines, but I don’t want to see eDiscovery practice descend into an, ‘I’m going to post inflammatory, but incomplete information with the goal of luring your eyeballs to my blog/magazine/newspaper’ approach, especially when most of the writers were fully well aware that the rulings would likely not stand.

I don’t care if my blog remains a boutique – I’m interested in dispensing useful information, not provoking people to fight with each other.  That attitude serves no one.

Case Got Your Tongue? Court Cases Aren’t Horse Races

MH900228831I understand we live in a ‘first-to-press’ world, and I further understand that – most of the time – it’s important to get a story out as soon as possible.  But, that doesn’t mix too well with judicial decisions.  In my view, you should treat them like a fine meal.

Allow some time to digest them.

So, this is why I didn’t jump on the predictive coding decision by Judge Peck in Monique Da Silva Moore, et al., v. Publicis Groupe & MSL Group, Civ. No. 11-1279 (ALC)(AJP) (S.D.N.Y. February 24, 2012).  The odds were, it would be contested and it is being contested; in rather strong language, I might add.  A lot of that language is being directed at the alleged misconduct of Judge Peck, himself, among others.  I’ve seen Judge Peck speak.  Water off a duck’s back, I suspect.

As some of my colleagues would say, “That’s litigation.”

Temper, Temper…

MP900149066Let's begin with the premise that the Internet makes it easier to…

Does your mind automatically think of positive attributes such as, 'communicate with others', 'market your business' or 'research virtually any topic'?  You'd be right about all of them.  Unfortunately, the Internet also makes it easier to:

Defame others.

There have been a trifecta of such cases in Georgia; and juries haven't been shy about awarding substantial (six-figure) damages.  What's the commonality?  They're all blogging cases.  The highest award of the three is $900,000 (The article says it's nearly ten-times what the plaintiff's sought – $48,000 – but isn't that nearly twenty-times?  Must be that new math…)

Yikes!  Did I mention how much I love you all?

People are taking – what used to be – vicious 'water cooler' gossip at worst and posting it online.  Unfortunately, in the eyes of the law, that creates an important distinction.  It changes an old case of slander (spoken statement, aka 'to the ear') into a new case of libel (written statement, aka 'to the eye').

Hint – libel is usually considered more serious.  Never mind the evidentiary advantages (you put your comments in writing), but people are much more apt to believe something written rather than spoken.  Why?  Because the perception is that someone wouldn't put an item in writing unless they had a reasonable level of confidence that it was true.

I guess they haven't been watching the primary contest, lately…

Four/Fifths of a Decision by the #SCOTUS

MP900403729OK; all of my chapters for the California State Bar book are submitted, I've returned from my trip to San Francisco for the Section Leadership Conference, and you all know what that means!

[Somebody, please tell me what it means…]

In theory, what I *think* it means is that I'll be able to resume posting relevant content two to three times per week.  In practice?  Stay tuned…

If you're a follower of the Supreme Court, and you're also someone who is very interested in rulings that affect privacy, and depending on which side you're on, then this week, you are either:

  • Happy that the 4th Amendment was protected, but angry that the 5th Amendment wasn't, or,
  • Angry that the 4th Amendment was protected, but happy that the 5th Amendment wasn't, or,
  • Happy about both, or angry about both.

It all depends on the facts.  In the Jones case, aka, the "GPS" case, the court decided that a physical intrusion onto private property to attach a GPS tracking device to a vehicle was a search as defined under the 4th Amendment.  Note the word, "physical".  If only it were that simple

What about tracking a GPS-enabled device?  That issue wasn't addressed, here (except for comments on it in concurring opinions).  If one enables GPS to drive to a location, is that a voluntary disclosure?  That'll be the next frontier.

In a lower-court decision, a federal judge in Colorado ordered a defendant in a criminal case to decrypt her laptop, stating that she was not afforded 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination, setting off another round of debate – and an examination of conflicting rulings – that will likely meander its way to the Supreme Court.

The logic is of the kind that only law afficionados may appreciate; defendant doesn't technically have to give up her password because she only has to enter it into the system without divulging it to anyone.

In other words, "Don't give up your password…just give us access to everything the password protects."  That, along with the "All Writs Act" of 1789, should afford you some interesting reading on the case.

An interesting week for the Bill of Rights and privacy, indeed…

…After the Horse has Escaped. #PDA and the #5thAmendment


 

I closed my last post with this line; "Now comes the more difficult argument; explaining how a password is exactly the same as a key…"

In my view, the law is a password.  For example, right or wrong, a police officer may perform a search because he or she believes the law permits it.  A judge is another interface who decides whether to grant or deny access to information.  There's one major difference between a police officer, a judge and a computer, of course.  An officer or judge will make decisions based on several factors, whereas a computer – in proper working order – will decide based on pass/fail.  Nevertheless, like our friend, Maxwell Smart, the law is just another door in a series that parties must pass through.

So, what if we have a person under arrest who has password-protected their PDA and refuses to divulge it to the government?  Do they have 5th Amendment protection?  For starters, here's an excellent, big-picture view of the issue and emerging case law (I linked to this on Twitter a few days ago).

I think I get a bad rap sometimes.  My views may appear to be pro-defense versus pro-government.  However, if you've read my bio, you know that I've worked with the District Attorneys office.  I've also served as criminal defense counsel (this is not an unusual situation, by any means).  For me, the issues are simple.  Individuals on either side of the law have rights and responsibilities and it's important to know what they are (assuming any one of us can keep up with the rapid changes).

Also, the game has changed in another major way.  I understand that a lot of criminals use cellular devices to facilitate their behavior, but a majority of law-abiding citizens do not.  If one such citizen is arrested for, say, disturbing the peace, should the government have a right to search through all of the data on that person's Blackberry?  What if he or she is the Vice President of a major corporation and the device is issued by said corporation – and contains privileged communications?

Do I have the answer?  At the moment, it depends on what jurisdiction I happen to be standing in when you ask me. 

Which do you think is a better scenario from an individual-rights standpoint: 1) Spending time and funds (possibly while defendant is incarcerated) arguing that a search was illegal, or 2) Preventing the search from occurring in the first place?

I tweeted another story that produced this quote from a University criminal law professor:

"We're seeing a whole generation for whom privacy is not important."

I can't say that I agree with that assessment.  In most cases, people still don't grasp the concept that what they post online can be seen by anyone.  They only figure it out when their privacy has already been breached and it's too late to do anything about it.

You know what they say; nobody likes a cop until they need one…

Closing the Barn Door… #PDA, #GPS & the #4thAmendment

MP900385971If you’ve been following my Tweets lately (I made it easier to do last week by adding a Twitter module to the sidebar), you know I’ve been spending a lot of time linking you to what I feel are some of the best analyses available on the developing area of how 4th Amendment searches & seizures pertain to new technology.

All eyes are on the Supreme Court again, as they prepare to hear arguments this coming Monday in U.S. v. Jones.  Jones pertains to the use of GPS tracking devices and goes directly to the core issues; 1) What is a reasonable expectation of privacy, and 2) When is a warrant required?  For one such analysis, here’s a link to Erwin Chemerinsky’s view.

We also have the emerging issue with cellphones and PDAs.  This morning, I read a great analogy by Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who – correctly, in my view – likens PDAs to “…a key to your house. When you have someone’s key, you don’t just have a physical object, you have a way to investigate his life in ways you otherwise wouldn’t have.”  [italics/bold added]

You also need a warrant before you enter.

As an IT representative, I had the most trouble explaining this to laymen.  People who are familiar with technology better understand that the information is everywhere and nowhere.  People with less experience tend to think of information in dimensional terms, or not as the string, but as the cans on either end (what we used to refer to as ‘guzinta/guzouda’).

A good example of this was when I was asked by a representative of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to examine their pilot program for helping parents protect their kids from predators.  One of the suggestions was to make sure that the family PC was in an open area of the house so that parents would always be able to know what their kids were doing.  They visualized the PC as if it were a telephone, e.g. I call your home number and it rings in your home on one of your physical devices.  They couldn’t grasp that if the child was up to something they didn’t want their parents to know about, they’d likely be doing it at a friend’s house, at school or at the library.  In essence, a person could access their information anywhere, not just on the home PC.

Another example was an instruction to parents to demand that their kids provide them with their email accounts.  Again, under 18 or not, if a child is hiding something, they’ll set up a free email account – and they won’t be telling you about it.

Keep in mind, the above examples are pre-texting and pre-PDA.  Of course, now that we have PDAs, texting, etc., non-tech-savvy-people have a much easier time understanding the transitory nature of information.

Sometimes, though, I envision judges as those same parents.  I guess if I were appearing in front of the Supreme Court, I’d tell them that searching someone’s PDA is akin to searching a 4-drawer file cabinet, but with one thing in common between the two; if the owner locked the cabinet (password-protected the PDA), the government would need a warrant

Now comes the more difficult argument; explaining how a password is exactly the same as a key…