I recently posted on YouTube videos being used as exhibits that highlighting illegal conduct.[1] I regret having an example so quickly.
Eight teenagers were arrested for beating a teenage girl in Lakeland, Florida. The youth beat up the victim so they could make a YouTube video.
The assault included one of the female attackers striking the victim on the head several times and then slamming the victim’s head into a wall, rendering her unconscious. Three other teens forced the victim into a car and took her to another location.[2] Footage of the attack is available with most of the news articles covering the story.
This savage total abandonment of humanity was some sick lust to post something on YouTube.
I wish a painless and quick recovery to the victim. I wish the district attorney handling this case total success.
The civil lawsuit that will likely follow will not rival anything like Enron, the Southwest Airlines safety scandal, or the White House missing email cases when it comes to electronically stored information. It does have e-Discovery I would seek as a plaintiff attorney for the victim. Just because a case does not involve a multinational corporation does not mean small cases do not have e-Discovery.
If I were the district attorney or the plaintiff attorney, I would seek the following electronically stored information:
Cell Phone Text Messages: Teenagers communicate by text messages. There is a complex shorthand language that will require some translation, but these messages might show a conspiracy between the teenage attackers. This may require an expert to copy the cell phones or a third party subpoena to the cell phone company to acquire the text messages.
Cell Phone Photos or Video: It is difficult to find a cell phone that does not take photos or shoot video. Any exciting clips may show further evidence of guilt. A defense lawyer might find statements by co-defendants urging the attack to stop.
Instant messages: Third party experts might be required to copy instant message history from the defendants’ computer hard drives.
Blog postings: Teenagers communicate via posting on social networking sites such as MySpace. These sites allow users to post “tags” on their “friends” pages communicating plans, meetings, or other statements. I would have an expert copy each teenager’s webpage to seek each blog posting and tags for any evidence showing a plan to assault the victim.
YouTube Videos: I would have an investigator review every posting by any defendants on YouTube and copy potential party admissions. If these youth were planning to post an attack on YouTube, there might be video to show their plans.
The above are just a few ideas. Even though this isn’t a large case or a very complex one, it still contains e-discovery and attorneys should not forget that.
I hope the district attorney handling the case and the plaintiff attorney seek computer experts to gather any possible electronically stored information.
Go do justice.
[2] “8 Teens Charged in Videotaped Attack,” AP, April 8, 2008, lasted visited http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_re_us/teen_beating
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