Abstract
This paper investigates basic issues related to the use of digital evidence in courts. In particular, it analyzes the basic legal test of authenticity of evidence with respect to an e-mail tool that can be used to manipulate evidence. The paper also examines the experiences and perceptions of U.S. state judicial officers regarding digital evidence, and reviews case law on how such evidence might be tested in the courts. Finally, it considers ethical and social issues raised by digital evidence and the mitigation of problems related to digital evidence.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACM, ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (www. acm.org/constitution/code.html), October 16, 1992.
American Bar Association, Model Rule 1.1: Competence (www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc_toc.html).
American Bar Association, Model Rule 3.1: Meritorious Claims and Contentions (www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc_toc.html).
American Bar Association, Model Rule 3.3: Candor toward the Tribunal (www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc-toc.html).
American Bar Association, Model Rule 3.4: Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel (www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc-toc.html).
American Bar Association, Model Rule 3.8: Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor (www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc-toc.html).
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, W. Ross (Translator), Oxford University Press, New York, 1998.
California Court of Appeals (First District, Division Four), Rabic v. Constantino, Case No. A106248, 2004.
P. Denning, Who are we? Communications of the ACM, vol. 44(2), pp. 15–19, 2001.
P. Denning, Crossing the chasm, Communications of the ACM, vol. 44(4), pp. 21–25, 2001.
J. Givens, Comment: The admissibility of electronic evidence at trial: Courtroom admissibility standards, Cumberland Law Review, vol. 34, pp. 95–126, 2003.
J. Harrison, Reconceptualizing the expert witness: Social costs, current controls and proposed responses, Yale Journal on Regulation, vol. 18(2), pp. 253–314, 2001.
IEEE, IEEE Code of Ethics (onlineethics.org/codes/IEEEcode.html).
Kentucky Court of Justice, FY 2004 Historical Reports: Circuit Court Data and Circuit Family Data, Domestic and Family Case Closures (www.kycourts.net/AOC/CSRS/ResearchStats.shtm).
J. Linderman and W. Schiano, Information ethics in a responsibility vacuum, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, vol. 32(1), pp 70–74, 2001.
M. Losavio, The secret life of electronic documents, Kentucky Bench & Bar, vol. 63(5), pp. 31–34, 1999.
Maine Supreme Court, State v. Turner, 2001 ME 44 (www.courts, state.me.us/opinions/documents/01me44tu.htm), 2001.
T. Natsui, Procedural justice: Changes in social structures in an information society and the maintenance of justice, presented at the International Conference on the Internet and the Law — A Global Conversation, 2004.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems and Networks: Towards a Culture of Security (www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/22/15582260.pdf).
M. Robins, Evidence at the electronic frontier: Introducing e-mail at trial in commercial litigation, Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal vol. 29, pp. 219–315, 2003.
W. Stallings, Network Security Essentials (2nd Edition), Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2003.
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (7th Circuit), Jimenez v. Madison Area Technical College, 321 F.3d 652, 2003.
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (11th Circuit), United States v. Siddiqui, 235 F.3d 1318, 2000.
U.S. Department of Justice, Part V: Evidence, Manual for Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Criminal Division, Washington, D.C., 2002.
U.S. District Court (Illinois Northern District, Eastern Division), Tibbetts v. RadioShack Corporation, Case No. 03 C 2249, 2004.
U.S. Government, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 101 (Scope), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 1, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 102 (Construction and purpose), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 1, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 402 (Relevant evidence generally admissible; irrelevant evidence inadmissible), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 3, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 403 (Exclusion of relevant evidence on grounds of prejudice, confusion or waste of time), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 3, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 702 (Testimony by experts), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 13, 2004.
U.S. Government, Article VII: Rules 801-807 (Hearsay), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 15–20, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 802 (Hearsay rule), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 15, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 901 (Requirement of authentication or identification), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 20–21, 2004.
U.S. Government, Rule 1001 (Definitions), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 23–24, 2004.
U.S. Government, Article X: Rules 1001–1007 (Contents of writings, recordings and photographs), Federal Rules of Evidence, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 23–24, 2004.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 International Federation for Information Processing
About this paper
Cite this paper
Losavio, M. (2006). Non-Technical Manipulation of Digital Data. In: Pollitt, M., Shenoi, S. (eds) Advances in Digital Forensics. DigitalForensics 2005. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 194. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-31163-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-31163-7_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-30012-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-31163-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)