Investigation Procedure When Charged For A Sex Crime

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: What I'm guessing what happens is, when a person engages in this behavior and they're caught on one aspect of it, let's say, a text message is the thing that tips the balance, it gets them arrested. Then I'm sure they grab all of a person's computer records, text records, Google, Yahoo or Bing search records, every communication this person has put out, and they look for more communications in different venues with this minor, right?

Acacia Law: That is absolutely correct. They will utilize all those; Verizon, AT&T, any of the iPhones, anything like that, in addition to their computers- whatever model it may be. They seize everything by search warrant, and so if they suspect you, they'll get a search warrant sworn out by a judge; they'll come to your house; they'll take every phone, every computer, everything that they can get their hands on. Now, I've prevailed on some of these cases, because, as you can imagine, one of the defenses you can use is that they have to establish that it was a particular person utilizing that computer at the time.

Interviewer: Oh, okay.

Acacia Law: So, if you have a houseful of people- and there's one computer- determining who exactly was the one who utilized the computer at that time, can make things problematic for them. That's one of the defenses that we've been able to use, and in fact we've used them because, that, in fact, was true. The person who's being charged never used the computer at that time, so clearly they are not guilty. But yeah, they will seize every communication device, every electronic communication device known to mankind, and they will forensically test it, every single bit of it, every single photo, every single photo that you thought you erased from your iPhone, every single photo that you thought you'd deleted from your computer. They'll find it.

Interviewer: I've seen in the media that in a couple of murder cases they'd subpoenaed Google searches that the person made on Google, and they can see if they searched for anything particularly to do with sex crimes.

Acacia Law: That is correct. Google's search engine is so powerful that in many respects they are able to obtain information just based on what they can punch into the search engine on an individual that helps them narrow down things. On top of that, they have their own sophisticated computerized software program which allows them to infiltrate what might otherwise be considered private or confidential computer transmissions.

Interviewer: Really.

Acacia Law: …Whether with a search warrant or not. An example is something that's common in all cases. The State of Arizona, for example, has a computer database that prosecutors all over the state utilize in order to run records checks for individuals. Now, I personally could do a Google search on someone; but the chances of me actually accessing their exact criminal history are about zero.

However, their systems are all hooked together throughout the United States, and many times internationally as well. So fingerprints, convictions, photographs; everything can be utilized to match up. So you have not only Google and just your average search engine, but they have their own system that's even more invasive that they can utilize to get a very high level, or degree, of accuracy in terms of obtaining information on a possible perpetrator.