In Trouble With the Law? The District Attorney, Police, and Attorneys are Regularly Google-ing You!

As anyone reading this blog knows, social media now drives many aspects of our work and play. While many people simply put up where they are eating that night, or pictures of their pets, others put up stories about their vacations and friends and still others use it as a forum for political views. The reason I am bringing this up is to point out that while you may think only your “friends” are keeping track of you, there are many more people checking your social media pages.

A few examples that you might already know about are colleges and universities. Not only do they review your written application and recommendation letters, they now “Google” your name to see what else pops up. That weekend at the river was fun, but the admissions counselor at your favorite university may not find the photo of you shot gunning a beer or rolling a joint as cool.

Additionally, in my line of work, I find that the police and the District Attorney regularly check the internet postings of people that have been arrested. An example is the case of a young man charged with a DUI wherein his best friend died. I had worked out a deal for probation with a year in jail instead of the 4 years in prison the DA wanted, only to show up for the sentencing to find the Judge and DA looking at a photo posted on the internet of my client holding a beer at a party. Needless to say, the probation offer went out the window and the client had to go to prison, albeit for only 2 years.

For attorneys, the information available on the internet can also be useful. Most of us “Google” the attorneys on the other side of our case to see what we can find out about them. Where did they go to school; what are their likes etc. –it makes that first meeting better when you can find that common ground.

Recently, a new topic has arisen, the use of social media by lawyers to find out information about potential jurors. The American Bar Association has just addressed this issue in June 2014. The ABA has announced that it is indeed ethical for attorneys to review the publicly available social media information for jurors. This means that instead of the minimal voir dire we are now allowed, you can already have looked at character profiles, whether the potential juror has mentioned the case and then monitoring the jurors’ social media activity during a trial. Of course, they warned about any communication or “friending” the jurors as that would be improper conduct. It is also a lesson to everyone that once you put something out on the internet, it is out there for everyone to see! Therefore, do not post anything that you would not want brought up by an attorney during the voir dire section of a trial.

David K. of Van Nuys, CA is a member of the Attorney Referral Service of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.

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