As time passes, society’s everyday norms change. Specifically, technology and how we all rely on technology changes. Many New Yorkers rely on laptops, iPads, cellphones and their watches as routine parts of their lives. A current out-of-state case highlights how technological advancements not only leak into our lives, but into criminal cases, too.
New York Daily News reports a husband who is charged with the murder of his wife faces a new source of supposed evidence to combat. According to investigators, data collected from the homicide victim’s Fitbit suggests the husband’s been dishonest regarding the timeline leading up to the incident. How threatening is this kind of data in criminal cases?
A central aspect of criminal cases is for parties to create a timeline related to the incident. A defendant will work with his trusted defense lawyer to put together the details of the time and events surrounding, in this case, the death of someone. In this case, investigators claim that the victim’s Fitbit data shows she was alive and moving after her husband claims she was allegedly murdered by an intruder.
This alleged evidence creates doubt about the defendant and his honesty. It can be dangerous, therefore, to his chances in court. But dangerous doesn’t mean the defendant’s murder case is hopeless. This is where the aggressive and informed defense of a legal team becomes invaluable.
It is not as though Fitbit data alone paints a certain picture of the defendant as guilty. Most people who use a Fitbit understand the device is not always accurate. Someone’s measured heart rate can be off, and steps are sometimes miscalculated. Simply put, it could be controversial to and sloppy to convict someone of a crime based on a step tracker alone.