COLLIER COUNTY, FL -
Pictures and posts on your social
media network can be used against you. Whether you are using Facebook,
Twitter or Instagram - anything you post is potential evidence and law
enforcement is taking advantage.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office and
Naples Police Department have made at least four arrests this year by
using social media to try and prove suspects committed a crime.
"When you post something online, you really do so at your own peril," says Collier County Judge Robert Crown.
30-year-old Brandon Perry was arrested for
battery in Collier County after he allegedly bragged about beating up
his neighbor on his Twitter page.
Seth Runyon also got stung by social media.
According to a Sheriff's Office report, the
22-year-old was on probation, making it illegal for him to have a
firearm. Deputies arrested Runyon after he posted a picture of himself
with a 9mm handgun on Facebook.
Another Facebook picture was used to arrest
27-year-old Hector Carrion for Grand Theft. Detectives he posted a
picture of puppies for sale, proving he stole a pregnant pitbull and
tried to sell her litter online.
In Naples, a fight video posted on YouTube sent a high school student to jail.
"If they chose to do that were going to try
and exploit that as much as we can within legal means, said Sgt. Brian
Sawyer with the Collier County Sheriff's Office. "We're going to use
social media, we're going to use the internet, whatever we can to try
and identify who the criminal is and what crimes they've committed."
If you do something illegal and decide to
share it through social media, everything you post becomes public -
making it fair game for law enforcement.
"Law enforcement officers under the right
circumstances, if they follow the right procedures, can access that
information and use it against you," said Judge Crown.
Some argue searching social media is an
invasion of privacy. But unlike searching a home or password-protected
e-mail account, social media is considered public so officers don't need
a warrant or subpoena to search.
"If your privacy settings are set to public
anyone can log on and see your information then yes, you have forfeited
all rights to or expectation of privacy," said Judge Crown.
Even if your profile page is private and
officers cant access your account, if a friend shares it online or
decides to hand it over, the evidence can still be used against you.
As long as a prosecutor can prove the posts or pictures are authentic and came from the defendant, they are admissible in court.
There are laws in place meant to protect your
privacy when it comes to e-mails and phone records, but with newer
social media, legislation has not caught up with technology yet.
"If you don't want it on the 6 o'clock news don't do it," said Judge Crown. "So that's the advice, don't post it."
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