The Legal Challenges of Digital Evidence in the Courtroom

By Nathara Moise

As technology advances, digital information plays an increasingly vital role within our legal system. Like many other industries technology is widely used because it's easily accessible. Emails, text messages, social media platforms, computer files, GPS records, and more are all forms of data that are used as digital evidence.

Digital evidence is being used more frequently to prosecute and defend cases. It provides various forms of digital footprints that can be used as evidence. Although this type of evidence plays an essential role in certain legal proceedings as it helps lawyers and investigators formulate their arguments and aids in legal decisions, it also comes with legal challenges. For instance, people may build a mistrust in the justice system when digital evidence is used due to the rise in disinformation and deepfakes. With the increase of digital manipulation techniques, it has become more challenging to distinguish between authentic and non-authentic evidence.

Digital evidence is starting to be used more frequently than physical evidence in certain court cases. According to Forensic Magazine, a study shows that about 66 percent of respondents agree that digital evidence has taken over physical evidence.

Digital evidence comes with different issues like privacy, authenticity, and admissibility. Legal professionals must have a deeper understanding of legal evidence and how to utilize it as technology continues to evolve. An example of a case where technology was insufficient is People v. Ware (2022); in this case, Nicholas Hopkins was charged with conspiracy to commit murder. There was no direct evidence that Hopkins committed these acts. The prosecution presented evidence of his social media activity that allegedly showed his support for gang violence. The Supreme Court ruled that this digital evidence was insufficient to convict him of committing murder. This case highlighted the need for more direct and clear evidence, particularly in regard to digital information.

The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. This amendment protects citizens during court cases because law enforcement must have search warrants to access citizen's digital information.

The court case Riley v. California (2014) addressed the limitations and boundaries of using digital evidence. David Leon Riley was arrested in San Diego for driving with an expired license. His cellphone was confiscated by the police, where they found videos that were gang-related, which added additional charges to his case. After a second case, the Supreme Court ruled that the police officer violated the Fourth Amendment and overturned his sentence.

Trainings on how to correctly utilize digital evidence should be implemented. This training would help legal professionals to have a better understanding of the challenges that come with using this type of evidence. It would allow them to learn how to distinguish between objective evidence and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Detectives and police officers should be trained on how to properly handle this form of evidence by being given the proper tools. There should always be new tools available to aid these professionals being that technology continues to evolve.

Digital evidence plays a crucial role within our legal system. Still, it is essential for legal professionals to ensure that all digital evidence is being used correctly to promote fairness in all cases.

Citations

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(No date) Thelawbrigade. Available at: https://thelawbrigade.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Vanshika-Shukla-CLRJ.pdf (Accessed: 16 May 2025).

Case law on social media and digital evidence (2024) CEB. Available at: https://www.ceb.com/social-media-evidence-case-law/?utm_source=GaggleAMP-CEB%2BGaggle&utm_medium=LinkedIn+%28GaggleAMP%29&utm_campaign=Blogs%252FThought (Accessed: 16 May 2025).

Editorial, V. (no date) Digital evidence: Importance and management, Verbit. Available at: https://verbit.ai/understanding-digital-evidence-importance-applications-and-modern-management-solutions/ (Accessed: 16 May 2025).

November 18, 2022 (2022) Survey says digital evidence is now more important than DNA, Forensic®. Available at: https://www.forensicmag.com/592150-Survey-Says-Digital-Evidence-is-Now-More-Important-than-DNA/ (Accessed: 16 May 2025).

Riley v. California: EBSCO (no date) EBSCO Information Services, Inc. | www.ebsco.com. Available at: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/riley-v-california#:~:text=In%20both%20instances%2C%20evidence%20obtained,central%20role%20in%20everyday%20life. (Accessed: 16 May 2025).