You might be surprised by what some people will post on Facebook. Perhaps the mostly younger demographic of social media users feels so comfortable communicating via social media that some forget it is a public forum. Or perhaps, having never experienced a time when most communication was private, the significance of social media being public is just lost on them...

Whatever the reason, the private (and often inculpatory) nature of the things people post to social media is legendary. Things like “F*&# you snitch…we’re gonna rock your bf again just for S#&@* and gigs. Don’t gotta bring violence to raves.” This little gem was a key piece of evidence in a recent assault case in Seattle. The Defendant posted this threat/admission from his personal Facebook account to a discussion thread started by an acquaintance on an unrelated topic, where it could be read by hundreds of other people (including, eventually, prosecutors).

Or how about the Defendant who admits to a sexual “relationship” with a 14 year-old girl (the Defendant was 21 at the time) on a public Facebook discussion thread? The Defendant in that case compared his relationship with the girl to that of Romeo and Juliet. Kitsap County prosecutors took a somewhat different view. The Defendant was convicted of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

Defense attorneys should be checking their client's social media pages, or at least asking their clients what the prosecutor will find if they look. The day where checking social media is a routine part of a criminal investigation is not far off. Some police and prosecutors are already there.