State Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals Regarding Authentication of Surveillance Video

The Supreme Court of North Carolina just decided State v. Snead, a case about the authentication of surveillance video. The court adopted a more relaxed approach to authentication than the court of appeals had taken. Because the authentication of video is an increasingly common issue, it is worth digging into the case. Facts. I previously wrote about Snead here, when the case was before the court of appeals. As a reminder, the matter arose when two men stole some shirts and sweatshirts from a Belk in Concord. The incident was caught on the store’s surveillance video system. The defendant was charged with larceny and with conspiracy to commit larceny. The defendant was also charged as a habitual felon. Trial proceedings. At trial, a regional loss prevention manager testified that he was not at the store in question when the theft took place, but had viewed the video shortly afterwards. He stated that he was familiar with the video recording system, which was an “industry standard” system that “water-marked” the recordings with time and date to prevent tampering. The system was in working order on the date of the theft, and the recording he reviewed after the crime took place was the same as the one to be introduced at trial. The video was admitted and played for the jury. The defendant was convicted, received a lengthy sentence, and appealed. Court of appeals. The court of appeals agreed with the defendant that the video was not sufficiently authenticated. Although the loss prevention manager [...]