Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

"gabby" was mad at her boyfriend "steve" and called the cops on on him saying he was her pimp and that they got in a fight. Gabby is 17 and a half and steve is 25. Cops took pics of old scars gabby had since she was 12 using it as evidence that steve beat her which he didnt because e only knew her for 2 months and she told police she had those scars for years. They printed out her prostitution ads eith her phone number on them. The only real evidence they have is gabby and steves text messages. Teve never knew gabby was only 17.will text messages be enough to keep him in jail for supposedly pimping a minor ?? Or does gabby have to auyhenticate the messages .what can gabby do.in his defense since all of this is exaggerated by the police. The only thing they have in connection with gabby and steve are tects

Asked on 7/12/13, 6:37 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

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Are you sure "Steve" has been charged with pimping "Gabby"? It sounds more likely that he's been charged with battery, domestic abuse, or some other type of violence against her. That sort of case might be easily proved even without the text messages.

Whether the texts will be admissible will depend upon what they say and what the D.A. hopes to prove with them. Gabby does not have to authenticate them in order for them to be admitted, since there are other ways to accomplish the same thing.

It's hard to imagine a successful pimping case based solely on text messages, no matter what they say or how many of them get into evidence. But the police have more than those messages to go on. They also have Gabby's statements, and the prostitution ads. They might have lots of other evidence you don't know about. And there are plenty of ways for them to get more.

The D.A. will subpoena the phone and internet companies to trace and authenticate the texts and the ads. He will also try to find out who answered the ads, whether by email or by phone, and may be able to get more information from them. There are lots of other ways the authorities can get evidence beyond what you believe they now have.

Steve needs a good lawyer right away. He also needs to keep his mouth shut about the case except when dealing with counsel.

Answered on 7/12/13, 6:49 pm

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