Using text-message PDFs as evidence

How texts usually come in

Most states follow a rule modeled on Federal Rule of Evidence 901, which is met by “evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is.” Usually a witness who knows the conversation, often the phone’s owner, says the printout accurately shows the messages and identifies who sent them.

Colorado is one example. Its Court of Appeals put it this way:

“a witness with personal knowledge must testify that printouts of text message(s) accurately reflect the content of the message(s)”

“a witness with personal knowledge must provide testimony establishing the identity of the purported sender of the text message(s)”

People v. Heisler, 2017 COA 58, ¶ 15.

What an EvidentlySo PDF adds

Each message from another person shows their phone number, which helps identify who sent it. Times are to the second, in the time zone named on page 1. Message numbers and page numbers make citing simple. Anyone can check at EvidentlySo.com/Verify that a PDF is the exact file EvidentlySo generated.

Questions about missing messages

Courts often treat a gap in a conversation as something that affects how much weight the messages get, not whether they come in. In Heisler, the court said a deletion issue “goes to the weight of the evidence, not its authenticity.” (¶ 22). Each PDF’s page 1 shows the dates, from the first message to the last, and how many messages it holds, so the scope is clear, and two parties’ PDFs of the same conversation can be compared.

If a PDF is challenged

1. Generate a fresh PDF of the same conversation and dates, and compare the two.
2. Check the PDF at EvidentlySo.com/Verify. How checking a PDF works
3. If a message is seriously disputed, give the snapshots, and the phone if needed, to a forensic examiner.

EvidentlySo turns messages into PDFs but doesn’t give legal advice. How to present messages in a case is up to the attorney and the court.