TexasCHLforum.com

Here I am sitting at work (yes I'm allowed to surf while working) going over the latest posts and the thought hits me, if I ever have to go to court for a CHL related issue, everything I've ever posted here can and will probably be used. Now before anyone gets the wrong idea I personally feel that anything I have said on this site can do nothing but help my position. I believe anything that is said that shows how serious ones take a responsibility is a plus and that this forum is a is an outlet for that expression. What are your thoughts with regard to my ramblings?

How is an attorney going to know you posted anything under a pseudonym?

They might get a warrant to search your home computer, but I doubt it.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:How is an attorney going to know you posted anything under a pseudonym?

They might get a warrant to search your home computer, but I doubt it.

- Jim

More likely if shooter has deep pockets in a civil suit. Fortunatly for them, we get the castle doctrine in September.

How is an attorney going to know you posted anything under a pseudonym?

I love answering a question with a question. How do prospective employers find Myspace/Facebook accounts of college graduates applying for jobs? People on the internet are not as anonymous as they think they are.

SC1903A3 wrote:

How is an attorney going to know you posted anything under a pseudonym?

I love answering a question with a question. How do prospective employers find Myspace/Facebook accounts of college graduates applying for jobs?

Mostly cause they use their real names.

SC1903A3 wrote:How do prospective employers find Myspace/Facebook accounts of college graduates applying for jobs?

In the cases I've read about, the job applicant provided an e-mail address that was linked to embarrassing web site (really dumb, IMO).

Here's how I see it: In most self-defense cases, the facts are obvious. The case has little "history" because it was a random encounter between strangers. The person claiming self-defense has a clean record, and the alleged attacker has a criminal record. There's no good reason for a prosecutor to go looking for past statements by the person who defended himself.

We can imagine scenarios where the claim of self-defense did not seem entirely credible, and a prosecutor with time on his hands might go looking for past statements that showed the suspect was looking for an excuse to kill someone. I think most of us know better than to get into one of those situations.

In any case, it is difficult and expensive to prove, to the standards required in court, that something posted on the web was actually posted by a particular person. I never heard of the effort being made in a self-defense case.

Your question is worth thinking about, though. I think it's a good idea to avoid macho language like "pop a cap" or anything that indicates that you are eager to deal out street justice.

I've also made a decision that if I am ever involved in anything that could result in criminal charges or a lawsuit, I will not type one word of it into a computer. I will write an account by hand, on paper, to fix it in my memory as soon as possible, then make sure that isn't easy to find.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote: Here's how I see it: In most self-defense cases, the facts are obvious. The case has little "history" because it was a random encounter between strangers. The person claiming self-defense has a clean record, and the alleged attacker has a criminal record. There's no good reason for a prosecutor to go looking for past statements by the person who defended himself.

seamusTX wrote: We can imagine scenarios where the claim of self-defense did not seem entirely credible, and a prosecutor with time on his hands might go looking for past statements that showed the suspect was looking for an excuse to kill someone. I think most of us know better than to get into one of those situations.

Usually, cases where computer records are significant are those that involve members of the same family or associates of some kind.

seamusTX wrote: In any case, it is difficult and expensive to prove, to the standards required in court, that something posted on the web was actually posted by a particular person. I never heard of the effort being made in a self-defense case.

Neither have I. But I have heard of web posts being used in some kinds of cases. Mostly this would be stuff posted on personal web pages like myspace, etc.

But last night on Dateline there was an account of a guy accused of murdering his wife where the prosecutor subpoenaed Yahoo to get his account info and passwords. They proceeded to find out that the guy had searched something like "right chest cavity bullet wounds" or something like that. This guy was convicted of shooting and killing his wife on the beach and then shooting himself FOUR TIMES to make it look like a robbery attempt gone bad. The computer records, including what they got from Yahoo helped to nail him.

So people should basically assume that anything they type out over the 'net is more or less going to live forever and will be accessible to LE if they ever have sufficient cause to get a warrant.

frankie_the_yankee wrote:So people should basically assume that anything they type out over the 'net is more or less going to live forever and will be accessible to LE if they ever have sufficient cause to get a warrant.

I agree, and not just in the case of criminal evidence. People who are in their teens and 20s now are posting all kinds of stupid things (not on this site) that their kids will find a couple of decades down the road.

I can find things I posted 13 years ago, and that was at the dawn of public use of the Internet.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

frankie_the_yankee wrote:So people should basically assume that anything they type out over the 'net is more or less going to live forever and will be accessible to LE if they ever have sufficient cause to get a warrant.

I agree, and not just in the case of criminal evidence. People who are in their teens and 20s now are posting all kinds of stupid things (not on this site) that their kids will find a couple of decades down the road.

I can find things I posted 13 years ago, and that was at the dawn of public use of the Internet.

- Jim

I have a friend who posted some "risque" pictures on the net, and now her son and his friends have reached their teenage years, and one of them found mom. OOPSIE!

jimlongley wrote:

seamusTX wrote:

frankie_the_yankee wrote:So people should basically assume that anything they type out over the 'net is more or less going to live forever and will be accessible to LE if they ever have sufficient cause to get a warrant.

I agree, and not just in the case of criminal evidence. People who are in their teens and 20s now are posting all kinds of stupid things (not on this site) that their kids will find a couple of decades down the road.

I can find things I posted 13 years ago, and that was at the dawn of public use of the Internet.

- Jim

I have a friend who posted some "risque" pictures on the net, and now her son and his friends have reached their teenage years, and one of them found mom. OOPSIE!

I guess they saw, "Mama before she was Mama."

Venus Pax wrote:

jimlongley wrote:

seamusTX wrote:

frankie_the_yankee wrote:So people should basically assume that anything they type out over the 'net is more or less going to live forever and will be accessible to LE if they ever have sufficient cause to get a warrant.

I agree, and not just in the case of criminal evidence. People who are in their teens and 20s now are posting all kinds of stupid things (not on this site) that their kids will find a couple of decades down the road.

I can find things I posted 13 years ago, and that was at the dawn of public use of the Internet.

- Jim

I have a friend who posted some "risque" pictures on the net, and now her son and his friends have reached their teenage years, and one of them found mom. OOPSIE!

I guess they saw, "Mama before she was Mama."

Well, it was after she was Mama, but it was before she realized that there might be long lasting consequences for such things, and before she found out that it's almost impossible to erase internet mistakes.

seamusTX wrote:How is an attorney going to know you posted anything under a pseudonym?

They might get a warrant to search your home computer, but I doubt it.

- Jim

When someone who wants to burn you; knows your identity and your screen names and tells the police/courts/attorneys.

I know people it has happened to.

txinvestigator wrote:When someone who wants to burn you; knows your identity and your screen names and tells the police/courts/attorneys.

Could you please define "burn"? I really don't know what it means besides kill, hurt, or deceive in a criminal context.

Did these people actually commit some wrongdoing?

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

txinvestigator wrote:When someone who wants to burn you; knows your identity and your screen names and tells the police/courts/attorneys.

Could you please define "burn"? I really don't know what it means besides kill, hurt, or deceive in a criminal context.

Did these people actually commit some wrongdoing?

- Jim

Burn; think of 10 year old daughter rule and replace with a not allowed word. Also; to mess with, jack with, etc.

You get in a shooting and someone who does not like you and wants you suffer some consequence notifies the authorities that Jim XYZ, who shot that dude, uses the internet handle SEAMUSTX, and he has posted some things on forums that show he was; looking to shoot someone, ignorant of the law, didn't care about the law, etc.

Sound impossible? Unlikley? I agree it is unlikely, but it is also unlikely I will ever need a gun for self-defense.

txinvestigator wrote: You get in a shooting and someone who does not like you and wants you suffer some consequence notifies the authorities that Jim XYZ, who shot that dude, uses the internet handle SEAMUSTX, and he has posted some things on forums that show he was; looking to shoot someone, ignorant of the law, didn't care about the law, etc.

Exactly. Then comes the subpoena to the web hosting entity and everything else follows from there.