Authenticating Facebook Messages

Facebook has become a treasure trove of evidence for most any kind of case.  The Mississippi Supreme Court decided Smith v. State located here which deals with what is a sufficient foundation for the admission of Facebook messages into evidence.  The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled it was error to allow the Facebook messages into evidence in the case without a sufficient foundation to authenticate that they were from the Defendant.  They however ruled that it was harmless error in light of the other evidence.  This case is worth a read on what all is required and will provide good research on both how to get the evidence in and how to keep it out.