It can be overwhelming and frightening if you're facing criminal charges in Pennsylvania. But if the police claim to have cell phone video footage of you committing a crime, you're probably concerned about whether the state might use this potential evidence against you in court. Don't worry! No one expects you to know all the ins and outs of the Pennsylvania rules of evidence. So, this blog post will discuss how cell phone evidence might be allowed.

When Can Police Search Your Phone?

When the police arrest you, they may confiscate your cell phone as part of the process. But don't worry that the court might hold any video on your phone against you at trial. The police can't just search your cell phone because they want to or because of your arrest. Rather, the police must get a warrant or your “meaningful consent” before searching your phone, which includes explaining your rights. But the police can't just stop you on the street and look through your cell phone, even if they suspect you may have evidence of a crime on your phone. That's why it's so important that you hire a skilled Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney immediately after an arrest.

Cell Phone Evidence at Trial

Cell phones are everywhere these days, and anyone on the street armed with a phone may video evidence of a crime. But just because a video exists that allegedly shows you or someone else committing a crime doesn't mean that a court will accept the video as evidence in court. To be admitted as evidence in court, the state must establish the following:

• The Authenticity of the Video: The video's owner must verify that it's authentic and that the video is unaltered. The state can establish this through the testimony of the video owner in court. If the prosecutor can't establish the video's authenticity, the court will likely exclude it as hearsay.
• There Was Two-Party Consent: If the video has an audio component and the events recorded happened in private, both parties must typically consent to the recording under Pennsylvania's wiretapping law. However, if the events recorded happened in public, you may have no expectation of privacy, and a court may be more likely to admit the video as evidence.

Even if the state establishes that you consented to the recording and the video is authentic, your attorney can raise other problems with the video in court. What we perceive in a video can often change based on context. Viewers can misinterpret events if the video begins in the middle of the action or has poor lighting or audio.

For example, if the prosecutor wants to use a video that allegedly shows you assaulting another person, but the video only begins after that person first hits you and only captures you defending yourself, the context of the video changes. Or, if the video quality or lighting is poor, it may be difficult to identify who is in the video or what is happening. In any of these situations, an experienced criminal defense attorney can question the accuracy of the video and its admissibility in court.

Hire an Experienced Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Attorney

If you're facing criminal charges in Pennsylvania, you need help navigating the criminal justice system for the best possible outcome.  LLF Law Firm's skilled legal team have defended Pennsylvanians in criminal matters for years. Call the LLF Law Firm at 888-535-3686 and find out how they can help you.