If divorce is war, Facebook is ammunition. According to First Coast News, Facebook and other social networking wesbites are being used in approxiamtely 80% of divorce cases.
Family law attorneys are quickly understanding the benefits of social media for collecting evidence about their client’s former spouse’s activities outside the court room. Often times, the spouse’s depiction on their Facebook profiles conflicts with their testimony in litigation. Attorney Rebecca Zima knows the power of Facebook evidence first hand:
“The pictures people put on there are used against them,” Zima said. “I’ve used one Facebook post against someone because she claimed she had broken up with this convicted felon.”
But Facebook told a different story.
“She said she was in a relationship with him, she had pictures of him on Facebook and all of this was used against her.”
While attorneys continue to face evidentiary hurdles for admitting social media content into evidence, the content found on social media profiles is commonly used for impeachment. When used effecitvely, impeachment evidence can have a critical impact on a witness’s credibility and the outcome of a case. “Each time I’ve used Facebook in my cases, my client has done very well,” Zima confirms.
Hat tip to Michael Napoleone for a link to the First Coast News article.
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