Case Summaries - N.C. Court of Appeals (Dec. 1, 2020)

This post summarizes published opinions issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on December 1, 2020. When screenshots of social media comments are used as evidence showing both the fact of the communication and its purported author, the screenshots must be authenticated both as photographs and written statements State v. Clemmons, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Dec. 1, 2020).  In this violation of a DVPO case, screenshots of Facebook posts were authenticated by sufficient circumstantial evidence showing that the screenshots in fact depicted Facebook posts and that the comments in the post were made by the defendant such that the screenshots were properly admitted into evidence.  Shortly before the defendant was scheduled to be released from prison, the victim renewed a DVPO prohibiting him from contacting her.  Soon after his release, the victim began receiving phone calls from a blocked number and Facebook comments from her daughter’s account that the victim believed were written by the defendant rather than her daughter.  These communications were the basis for the DVPO violation at issue. The court first reviewed precedent to determine that the question of whether evidence has been sufficiently authenticated is subject to de novo review on appeal.  The court then held that when screenshots of social media comments are used as they were here – to show both the fact of the communication and its purported author, the screenshots must be authenticated both as photographs and written statements.  The victim’s testimony that she took the screenshots of her [...]