Can postings be used against us?

[CTGunner]

Following a shooting could a Prosecutor point to a member's postings on the high road to help 'paint an unfavorable portrait' of that individual.

For example - "Mr. Smith is a blood thirsty gun fanatic obsessed with firearms and self defense. He has over Five Thousand posts on a gun related online forum. Let me read you some of the things he has written or asked questions about...."

 

[ChristopherG]

If your postings reflected that you are a bloodthirsty gun fanatic, then Yes, of course they could be used against you.

Solution? Don't be bloodthirsty--or allow yourself to appear bloodthirsty.

A gun fanatic? Well, all the guns are probably going to be the best evidence of that. Think of your self-presentation on places like THR as counter-evidence, an opportunity to let the (imaginary, hopefully never-to-be-seated) jury see past their potential preconceptions about people who own and like guns.

 

[oneounceload]

This IS a public internet forum.

 

[Doggy Daddy]

Can positings be used against us?

I would guess that some hypotheses may be more damning than others...

DD

 

[CTGunner]

That seems very subjective. Simply posting a story about a time when a weapon was drawn or could have been drawn could easily be construed as such. It seems to me that almost any posting related to the use of a firearm could be turned into 'blood thirsty' by a prosecutor. Just having several hundred posts on this forum, regardless of content, seems like something that could be used to persuade a jury.

I would think that if it isn't directly related to the case at hand it could not be used, but that is just an assumption.

 

[mustang_steve]

Of course they can. That's why it's best to be upright in your postings. It helps determine your character.

For example....if a person here keeps making posts about "holy crap, look at this squirrel explosion I did using a .50cal!" That's not going to bode well. On the other hand, posting targets when talking about a new pistol or comparing ammo....that, while disturbing to some of the antis, isn't implying a violent nature...it's just a display of how that person could handle that firearm/ammo combination at X distance.

I know I've posted range results before on other forums....I was very careful to word my responses though so they could not be mis-interpreted. Given, some of the thread responders were not so great.

In the end, always choose words carefully when you're in public. There's lots of jokes I'd never say in public....while I'm a free man to say what I want, people are free to make opinions of me based upon those words.

Life IS a two-edged sword....everything we do can come back to us in either a positive or negative way. It's best to live it in the manner that assures positive results.

 

[wrs840]

Don't put anything in electronic media that you wouldn't put on a postcard.

Les

 

[Airpark]

Yes, and believe it or not Google captures and stores EVERYTHING that happens on the Intenet.

Personal Privacy is LONG GONE.

 

[Jim K]

I have said it before and will repeat it:

Posting on a web site is not like chatting with your buddies over a a few beers.

It is like going on Larry King Live with a megaphone. Millions of people potentially can see these postings; not all of them are our friends.

It is one thing to advocate the right to bear arms, and talk about the technicalities of various guns, but some kinds of writing is not responsible or protected by freedom of speech. To say an official is misguided or flat wrong is protected speech; to make explicit threats is not. The same is true in other cases. Ranting about your neighbor, or advocating solving a problem through illegal action or illegal use of a gun could come back to haunt you.

And don't kid yourself that using a "handle" will prevent identification. The moderators of any forum, no matter what they may say or imply, will yield to a court order and release any names and addresses the court might request.

Jim

 

[Palmetto]

IMO, The most likely use of internet posts would probably be in a civil lawsuit arising out of a situation where the other party would try to use your posts against you, but there are some situations where a prosecutor could use them to support a case to try and show knowledge or intent. Offhand, using posts to impeach a witness on the stand is something that could really be ugly in the courtroom, and may simplify any potential evidentiary battles for admitting the posts into evidence.

If the opposing party would be able to get the post admitted into evidence, imagine how bad having a post where you stated "If it ever comes up, I will shoot a perp outside and drag 'em in the front door" come up in a case where there was a defensive shooting on your front lawn.

Palmetto – who is not yet a member of any bar, so please do not take the above to be any sort of legal advice. Always consult an attorney before doing anything, ever.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors// OP \\\ I would hope the opposite is true.

That my postings here would show I was a concerned citizen trying to better my knowledge of firearms and the laws governing their usage. BEFORE such knowledge is needed.

 

[Frank Ettin]

The bottom line is that postings in Internet forums are public. Your postings can be found, and if there's anything in them that can hurt you, it can be used to hurt you.

Yes, of course the posting has to be relevant. So the time you posted "Happy Birthday X" is probably not a concern. But as to anything else, there's no good way to predict what may.or may not, be relevant in some unknown, possible future litigation.

So just remember that the Internet is a public place. Don't say anything here that you wouldn't say at high noon over a PA system in your town square.

 

[everallm]

Whilst postings COULD be used against an individual, any half way competent and vaguely technically aware advocate should shred it.

For example

Is there a demonstrably inviolate audit trail of the postings that can demonstrate that what was posted has never been changed.

(Unless the posts are stored in a Write Once media or in a secured database environment the answer is no)

Is there an uninterrupted and inviolate record of the IP address and MAC address of each and every post and has this been demonstrated to match against the same for the defendant.

(Probability as close to zero as you are going to get)

Does the posting board have a robust and secure authentication mechanism such that it can be proved that only one discrete individual can log on as the named entity. A simple ID and password over an unsecured transmission protocol is NOT a robust and secure authentication mechanism.

(Err, nope)

Has the board or any board running the same software ever been hacked with alterations to the content of the board posts.

(Err 30 seconds on Google will show the software is NOT bulletproof so COULD have been hacked at random any point)

"So Mr Prosecutor, you cannot prove or demonstrate with any degree of certainty, never mind beyond a reasonable doubt, that at time my client either was the poster or if he was the poster that the content was not maliciously changed at any time."

 

[22lr]

Ask the poor detective that investigated OJ. He retires, goes gets drunk and makes a remark that OJ is a guilty (expletive), and his entire case basically gets thrown out of court (and yes I left out a lot of details for sake of time), and OJ walks having committed double homicide.

Just saying be careful what your saying.

 

[stevehps]

im sure they could maybe be used against them

I guess they could if the person in question gave the correct information when the membership was created i guess. But also they would have to prove that the suspected post were placed be the actual person that is being investigated.

 

[franconialocal]

The latest issue of Police Magazine just did a bit on this (sorry...not avail on line unless you pay the $7.50 for this issue). The answer is "yes".

 

[billybob44]

Don't put anything in electronic media that you wouldn't put on a postcard.

Les

Or a billboard on the Interstate!!

 

[Frank Ettin]

everallm, sure, there are always a variety of reasons why Internet Forum postings or other electron matter might not get into evidence, authentication just being one of them. The thing is, how much are you willing to bet on that working for you?

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

All the more reason for any zombie/SHTF/EOTWAWKI threads to be instantly locked or deleted.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Mr. THE DARK KNIGHT is a regular poster at an internet forum where members regularly discuss their fears of zombies and what arsenal they need for the coming end of the world. Look at these crazy people, 18 guns and only 1 can of food!"

 

[benminer]

IF you did post something potentially incriminating IF you were in a situation where you were being questioned about it by the police then you would probably not want to admit to it.

 

[Kleanbore]

The three most likely risks, in my opinion, are

1. something you said could be used by a procecutor to help establish state of mind;
2. any discrepancy between a posting and statements made to investigators or to the court could damage your credibility; and
3. the content of an internet posting could create a trail to other damaging evidence.

Things said even in jest could prove damaging.

Internet postings are used in prosecutions and in civil litigations all the time, as are email server records, word documents, powerpoint presentations, accounting system journal entries and reports, and so on.

An interesting point for those who may not be aware--electronic files with a "track changes" mode have been used as evidence and to destroy the credibility of witness testimony. A preliminary document version never published containing such words as "we may be liable" or "this should never see the light of day" can show up at the most inopportune times.

 

[stevehps]

but wouldnt have to be something more secured?

Wouldnt it have to be from something like a private messenger,email,or private website? Something that would be actually stored on the individuals personal computer? Messengers always store a history of the chat as a text file on the users computer. Something like post on a internet form is to open for "compromise". In otherwords the account could be fraudulent,it could have been hacked,it could be a account set up to directly discredit someone.
There is no actual user verification like D.L ,credit card,personal information that is used to actually verify that the user is who he claims to be. I.P address is no good,some could be a proxy server,or even a I.P Stack that uses a subnet,there could be a thousand users in a area all with the same I.P address. I could be wrong but i just don't see a judge or grand jury that would allow such flimsy evidence to decide a man or womans fate.
But i could be wrong.

 

[Frank Ettin]

Well, the user name is linked to an email address in the records of the site. So that tracks it back to the identify of the person associated with the posters account. Now the prosecutor knows, or can find out, who stevehps is in real life. Is your pitch that someone has been impersonating you at THR?

In any case, I'll ask again. How much are you willing to bet on your Internet Forum posts not getting into evidence if relevant? I try to avoid making that bet by being discrete.

 

[CTGunner]

You can be discrete but remember that what you think is 'normal' conversation many other anti gunners might not. I look at some of the things posted in strategy and tactics and wonder...for example:

"What do you have in your bug out bag? Well I have xyz and a handgun with 50 rounds of ammo just in case. And I have an AR in my truck at all times."

Now, maybe this is far fetched but let's just say that the day should come where you need to 'bug out' and in the course of events for whatever reason you are involved in a shooting. The prosecutor tells the jury 'This is a scenario that Mr. X has been 'fantasizing' about for years'. Just read what he wrote about this exact scenario on a public internet forum.'

 

[stevehps]

fiddletown

im not pitching anything, i am just trying to be part of the high road community, all i was doing was trying to a opinion or alternate view.
since you did mention email address that brings up another "what if". For example this account is linked to a gmail email address,so that means it is a address that is free,requires no identification,or proof of who i am.
i do have registered email address linked to a billed account but it is used strictly for business,that way just in case it dont get spammed by adds for erectile dysfunction or something stupid.

i hope there isnt anyone impersonating me anywhere, if there is i feel sorry for them because sometimes i hate being me..........:]