Can text messages be used as evidence in court?

Answer by  Richard88 (391)

Yes. The primary factor is that the text messages in must be relevant to the case. They must either tend to prove or disprove the allegations or support the matter in contention. They would also have to meet chain-of-custody requirements, primarily meaning subpoenaed from the carrier.

Answer by  Binome (1975)

Yes, they can. A lawyer may try to argue that the messages were sent by someone else or that they were in some way faked, but that's the case for any kind of evidence.

Answer by  localgirl808 (405)

Yes, and they are being submitted as evidence with increasing frequency. For example, in 2008, when former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick stood accused of obstructing justice and assaulting a police officer, the prosecution planned to use Kilpatrick's text messages to his then-Chief of Staff as evidence.

Answer by  cheabea91 (1)

What if the texts are sent when a person is drunk? There's that site where there's a list of drunk texts.