Authenticating Photographs Taken from Social Media Sites

Suppose that the defendant is charged with a gang-related murder. The State seeks to establish that the defendant is a gang member by introducing a photograph that a detective found on the defendant’s Facebook page. The photograph shows the defendant flashing gang signs. The defendant argues that the picture can’t be authenticated, because digital photographs can easily be altered, and because the State does not have a witness who was present when the picture was taken and who can testify that the image is a fair and accurate representation. Is the picture admissible? The usual ways of authenticating photographs won’t work here. Photographs are usually introduced to illustrate a witness’s testimony, based on the witness’s recitation that the witness was present when the photographs were taken and that the photographs “fairly and accurately depict” what the witness saw. See, e.g., State v. Vick, 341 N.C. 569 (1995). When such a witness is available, this foundation is sufficient for digital photographs just as it is for film photography. G. Michael Fenner, The Admissibility of Web-Based Evidence, 47 Creighton L. Rev. 63 (2013) (“A photograph from a Facebook page showing the criminal defendant half-dressed and fully-drunk at a party during the thirty-one days when she had not yet reported that her nearly-three-year-old daughter was missing, or during the five months between the time her daughter was reported missing and the little girl’s body was found, can be authenticated by someone who was at the party, remembers when the party occurred, and can identify [...]