In an increasingly digital world, attorneys and clients often find themselves faced with using text messages as evidence for legal proceedings. Being able to accurately capture these messages with the correct information is crucial to being able to use these messages in court. For text messages to be admissible in court, you’ll need to be sure to preserve the necessary information, such as date and time of the message, and the real contact information of the other parties in the message, such as an email or phone number. Saving and printing text messages for evidence can be approached several ways.
iPhone
For iPhones, iPads, and iTouch devices, you can either use a program or a screenshot to capture the messages. To take a screenshot, merely hold the “Sleep/Wake” and “Home” buttons down at the same time. This an easy and free way to capture messages; however you may have to individually capture each message and the relevant timestamps and manually create a transcript of the messages. Another way is to use a program, such as Decipher TextMessage to save the messages to your computer. This is already a widely used program by lawyers and law enforcement to preserve messages.
Android
Similar to iOS devices, Android users can rely on an application or a screenshot to save messages. Android models vary in the ways they capture a screen shot. Many use the “Sleep/Wake” button and the “Volume Down” button to be held down together, but Galaxy devices use the “Sleep/Wake” button and “Home” button combination. The screen should “flash” to signal a successful capture. Similar to iPhones, you may have to manually compile a transcript of messages. You may also wish to use an app to back up your messages. One such app is SMS Backup +. This app will allow you to store messages in your Gmail account, and they can be viewed and printed from any web browser.
Saving text messages as evidence doesn’t have to be difficult, with the appropriate tools. It is important to remember to back up your messages and other digital data regularly, as well as consult with a local lawyer about gathering text messages as evidence.
Acro Photo Print Inc. has a long history of handling large-scale jobs for law firms in New York City. Call (929) 244-4322 to find out how our printing services can help you prepare for legal proceedings.