Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 4

The United States has the most complicated system of evidentiary rules in the world.

They have the jury


system in most of their criminal and civil cases. They also have strict guidelines regarding what evidence
can be admitted into a trial, hence excluding irrelevant and distracting facts from being introduced to
avoid causing jury confusion that may adversely affect the outcome of the trial.

In the US, the Federal Rules of Evidence is a set of rules that governs the introduction of evidence at civil
and criminal trials in the trial courts. Under these rules, the following are the types of evidence:

Demonstrative Evidence: This is a common form of proof, generally having the form of the
representation of an object. Examples include: photographs, videos, sound recordings, x-rays, maps,
drawings, graphs, charts, simulations, sculptures, and models, among others.

Digital Evidence: This is any type of proof that can be obtained from an electronic source, such as
emails, hard drives, word processing documents, instant message logs, ATM transactions, cell phone
logs, and so forth. In the case of US v. Matisiewicz - Criminal Action No. 13-83-1-GMS (D. Del. Sep. 12,
2014), the defendant was convicted of Conspiracy to Cyberstalking resulting in death where the
defendants’ vitriolic postings on facebook and other social media were admitted as evidence towards
conviction. https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2015/06/13/national-first-cyberstalking-resulting-
death/71176760/

Documentary Evidence: This consists of any proof that can be presented in writing (contracts, wills,
invoices, etc.). However, term can technically include any number of media upon which such
documentation can be recorded and stored (photographs, recordings, films, printed emails, etc.).

In the case of US vs. Michael Daniel Rubens – No. 16-11170 – June 08, 2017, the US Court of Appeals,
based on documents submitted as evidence, affirmed the conviction of the defendant who publicly
humiliated dozens of young women by hacking into their online accounts, including e-mail and social
media, stealing photographs and other personal information, using the photographs to create
pornography and posting the pornographic images on social media websites and on a revenge
pornography website.

Ancient Evidence: A special category of evidence called an ancient document will be deemed authentic
if it can be shown to be more than twenty years old and found in a place and condition that a document
of that age would likely be found.

Parole Evidence - The rule prevents parties who have reduced their agreement to a final written
document from later introducing other evidence, such as the content of oral discussions from earlier in
the negotiation process, as evidence of a different intent as to the terms of the contract.[2]The term
"parol" derives from the Anglo-Norman French parol or parole, meaning "word of mouth" or "verbal",
and in medieval times referred to oral pleadings in a court case.

Exculpatory Evidence: Typically used in criminal cases, this type of evidence is that which favors the
defendant, either partially or totally removing their guilt in the case. In the United States, if the
prosecutor or police have found evidence, it is their duty to disclose it to the defendant. Failure to do so
can result in the case being dismissed.
In the case of Meanith Huon v. William Mudge,13-2966 (7th Cir. 2015), the defendant was convicted of
cyberstalking and sexual assault, among others, and the Court of Appeals refused to accept a
defendant’s online photo as exculpatory, hence, does not undermine the accusation of a sexual assault.

Physical Evidence: Quite simply, this type of evidence is any proof introduced in the form of a physical
object, whether whole or in part. In criminal proceedings, such evidence might consist of dried blood,
fingerprints, a murder weapon, DNA samples, casts of footprints or tires at the scene of the crime, and
so forth.

Prima Facie Evidence: This is "evidence sufficient to establish a claim or defense until rebutted by
contrary evidence" (Blackwell, 2004). In Latin, it literally means "on its first appearance", and such
evidence is generally deemed sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact if it is not refuted by
later evidence or argumentation. In a recent US case where the name of the defendant girl was
withheld because she was a minor, the said 12 year old girl was given a deferred sentence for
cyberstalking and first-degree computer trespassing based on evidence presented that were not
rebutted and the defendant offered a tearful apology in court. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/girl-
12-sentenced-for-cyberstalking/

Scientific Evidence: Evidence submitted to the court claiming to be scientific in nature must first
conform to generally-accepted principles of the scientific community. In addition, judges must now
insure that such evidence is also reliable (Bergman and Berman-Barrett, 2005).

One specific example of this type of evidence is the use of Behavioural Evidence Analysis (BEA) in
developing an understanding of the offender, the victim, the crime scene, and the dynamics of the
crime. This involves profiling of the cyber stalker through digital investigations. The aim of this work is to
provide a starting point on the profiling of the cyberstalker. The investigators could then proceed with
informed assumptions about the offender, according to his digital traces and also achieve reduced time
for the digital investigation.

Testimony: This is the "spoken evidence given by a witness under oath in court or at a deposition, or
written evidence given under oath through an affidavit" (Blackwell, 2004). Generally, a witness is called
forth, solemnly swears to tell the truth under the penalty of perjury. This is one of the most common
forms of evidence in the legal system. This type of evidence includes eyewitness identification, character
evidence, habit evidence, similar fact evidence and lie. In a recent case of USA vs. Magdy Zekry Boutros,
9:17-cr-80150, the Florida Southern District Court convicted Boutrous of Cyberstalking based on the
victim’s testimony presented during trial that her former landlord Magdy “Mike” Boutros made the
terrifying campaign he secretly waged against her after she politely rejected sexual advances from him.

Other Materials:

http://www.crime-research.org/library/Cyberstalking.htm
Cyberstalking, a relatively new form of electronic crime, affects victims who are mostly invisible, and its
violence is primarily what is said, and not what is eventually done.

Three areas where an online user is vulnerable are primarily where the user interacts with others:

1. Live chat or Internet relay chat (IRC), where users can talk "live," or type messages to one another
in real time. This makes it easy to target other people, which makes IRC and chat the most common
places for cyberstalking.

2. Usenet newsgroups, the next most common place where cyberstalkers prey because people
exchange messages in a group.

3. E-mail. E-mail harassment usually is an outgrowth of and a continuation of initial contact in chat
servers or Usenet newsgroups.

Cyberstalking can take many forms. One of the most common forms of harassment is unsolicited hate
mail, or obscene or threatening e-mail. A cyberstalker can also cause a lot of havoc in a chat group
through flooding a target's Internet chat channel to disrupt conversation. A cyberstalker can also post
messages in newsgroups to start malicious rumors. More complex forms of harassment include mail
bombs, sending the target a devastating virus, or spamming the target with electronic junk mail.

The laws against stalking

State laws that protect stalking victims

All states except Maine have enacted anti-stalking laws. California enacted the first anti-stalking statute
in 1990, primarily in response to the public outcry over the stalking and subsequent murder of Rebecca
Schaeffer, an actress appearing on the television sitcom, My Sister Sam. Many states have both criminal
and civil anti-stalking laws.

Some online stalking statutes include Alaska's anti-stalking law, California's anti-stalking law, Penal Code
Section 646.9, and Family Code Section 6320, Indiana's anti-stalking law, and West Virginia's anti-
stalking law. The National Victim's Rights Center lists various other state statutes on stalking and victim's
rights. Canada enacted a comprehensive anti-stalking law in 1993.

Federal laws that protect stalking victims

Currently, there are few federal laws that deal directly with stalking.

The Interstate Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act of 1996 punishes persons with a fine and/or
imprisonment for crossing state lines "with the intent to injure or harass another person...or place that
person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury..." (18 USC § 2261A, 2261, 2262).
What evidence must a victim put forth to prove stalking?

Many states' anti-stalking criminal codes provide that someone is a stalker if he willfully and repeatedly
follows, communicates, or harasses another and/or makes a "credible threat" to place the victim or the
victim's immediate family in fear for their safety.

In many states, the behavior must be "repeated," meaning it has to happen more than once either to
constitute criminal harassment or behavior that the civil courts can address.

Many states provide, however, that if the stalking is prowling a place where you live, work, or visit, then
one stalking instance may be sufficient to commence criminal or civil proceedings.

In some states, like California, you need not prove your stalker had the intent to carry out his threat. In
Canada, you need not prove your stalker meant to scare you, only that you were scared. You do,
however, need to prove your fear is reasonable.

Preservation of evidence

Preservation of evidence is a critical issue when it comes to stalking. Although harassment online usually
leaves an electronic trail, the trail leads to a computer rather than an individual. Establishing who was
using that computer terminal at that particular time is not easy.

Another issue regarding evidence is that stalking targets often destroy evidence when they receive it.
They need to not only print out a copy of the correspondence, but maintain the digital copy so that
headers can be revealed to trace the offending communication.

Вам также может понравиться