Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Jersey

AIM Chat Logs

Can personal chat logs be used against someone in a case where they say somethign was distributed. Also, are there any privacy acts that protect my right to my chat logs.


Asked on 8/04/06, 10:36 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Gary Moore Gary Moore Attorney At Law

Re: AIM Chat Logs

I am not certain what a personal chat log is. If you are referring to a record of your internet chats maintained by a internet provider that is one situation. If you are talking about some record on your personal computer that is another matter.

You might give me a call.

Gary Moore, Esquire

Hackensack, New Jersey

www.garymooreattorneyatlaw.com

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Answered on 8/04/06, 11:14 am
Jef Henninger, Esq Law Offices of Jef Henninger, Esq.

Re: AIM Chat Logs

Since you mentioned distribution, it sounds like you have some child porn charges. Computer crime is one of my big focus areas and I have been studying computer crime for 15 years. It also sounds like you don't have a good attorney since he would know that if the file was sent via AOL, there is a good chance that the image was captured by the AOL on screen upload which is a program most people don't know about. Furthermore, if an image or some other file was distributed, there should be ways to prove that outside of chat logs. I would also have to see the statements, but I think there are hearsay exceptions that would allow it. Now we just need to authenticate that these statements were made by you. That all depends on where they came from: someone's computer, AOL itself, or if it was just printed out. If there is no way to authenticate it, then anyone could have just opened up MS word and typed that stuff.

I suggest you get an attorney that knows about computer forensics and computer crime. Call me at 732/247/3340 to discuss your issues. My initial consultations are always free.

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Answered on 8/04/06, 11:34 am


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