Legal Question in Technology Law in California
I went through a very ugly divorce two years ago that is still being battled out over custody and finances. When I first asked for the divorce in Oct '09, my ex hacked into my email and social netowrking sites and posted on my page and other people's pages really nasty things. Obviously everyone deleted the comments and such becuase they didn't want that on their pages, so there was no evidence. Now, it seems, I have found a post made on a public forum admitting to hacking my account. I have at least one person willing to testify to what was written in her page by the ex when my account was hacked. Can anything be done with this - criminally or civilly?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You should ask your divorce lawyer if family law offers you a remedy. My sense is that you would not be able to bring a new lawsuit over something that happened as part of your divorce, but a family lawyer will know for sure.
What you describe is a crime. Indeed, it is probably several different crimes. The case should be provable even if most of the posts have been deleted. If you want your ex prosecuted, call your local district attorney. Offhand it is not clear to me whether such a case is already time-barred. Even if there is still time to bring the case, the D.A. may decide not to. The passage of time will be a factor in his decision. But if you don't ask, the odds of your ex being prosecuted are essentially zero.
Depending upon how much time and energy (and maybe money) you want to put into it, either a civil or criminal case (or both) could probably be built on your facts. However, for most folks it would not be worth the investments of time, energy and money. In criminal prosecutions, you have to interest the DA's office, and most of them have reduced budgets and plenty of violent crime to deal with. A civil suit might be winnable in that with good proof you would get a verdict and finding of liability, but you'd also have to prove financial harm to get more than a token money judgment.
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