Can twitter be used as evidence in small claims court?

[Darius871]

Can a twitter post by the defendant corroborating my claim be permissible in court?

Absolutely, positively yes; don't listen to any trolls and don't overthink it like Zevico/Flubber either. If the posts in question by the defendant as you say and nobody else, then there's no need to jump through any hoops about whether it's "hearsay" or whether there's a "hearsay exception" like prior inconsistent statements or otherwise. In fact, the prior inconsistent statement rule at FRE 613 specifically excepts party admissions from the rule. An admission by an opposing party is simply "non-hearsay by rule" if Philly small claims court is anything like virtually all U.S. jurisdictions.

[Al B. Sure!]

I need the address of her residence to sue her, right?

[KrazyHorse]

Huh? I thought your stab at extortion worked and you got your money back?

I would like to know the answer to this as well.

[C0ckney]

I need the address of her residence to sue her, right?

you can't sue someone for refusing to go out on a date with you AFAIK.

[Zevico]

What the d man says is probably true.

[EPW]

Someone provide a link to the extortion thread.

[Flubber]

Darius-- I didn'y think I overthought it-- I was just trying to point out that it might be difficult for a party to use their own tweets (answering a broader question as posed in the thread title rather than the narrower one) and that for tweets that would be admissable you need a good record. Wouldn't it be necessary for someone to be able to testify to how the record arose and was captured

[DaShi]

What the d man says is probably true.

Thank you.

You know, a little recognition is all I ask for.

[Pax]

I need the address of her residence to sue her, right?

Alby, give us more information. Suing is for a civil matter, taking out warrants for an arrest is criminal(misdemeanor or felony), DId you call the local police and tell them what's going on? They would tell you whether it's civil or criminal. State laws vary.

[Pax]

If you want to take out a warrant you normally just need name and date of birth.

[Flubber]

I need the address of her residence to sue her, right?

Unless your court rules are way different than ANY I have seen, yes as you will need to be able to "serve" the documents on her before she is compelled to reply (or have a default judgement against her)-- It is possible to sue people when you dont know where they are but it becomes far more difficult to move the matter forward as realy not much can happen until they are formally notified.

[flash9286]

Absolutely, positively yes; don't listen to any trolls and don't overthink it like Zevico/Flubber either. If the posts in question by the defendant as you say and nobody else, then there's no need to jump through any hoops about whether it's "hearsay" or whether there's a "hearsay exception" like prior inconsistent statements or otherwise. In fact, the prior inconsistent statement rule at FRE 613 specifically excepts party admissions from the rule. An admission by an opposing party is simply "non-hearsay by rule" if Philly small claims court is anything like virtually all U.S. jurisdictions.

True there would be no hearsay problems if the evidence rules are anything like the FRE, but he would still have to authenticate the tweet. Unless the D admits it was his/her twitter account and tweet, that could be a hassle.

[Darius871]

Darius-- I didn'y think I overthought it-- I was just trying to point out that it might be difficult for a party to use their own tweets (answering a broader question as posed in the thread title rather than the narrower one)

True enough; I'd just stuck to the OP's scope of a defendant's tweet being used against the defendant. Surely his own tweets, if there are any, would require a hearsay exception.

for tweets that would be admissable you need a good record. Wouldn't it be necessary for someone to be able to testify to how the record arose and was captured?

True there would be no hearsay problems if the evidence rules are anything like the FRE, but he would still have to authenticate the tweet. Unless the D admits it was his/her twitter account and tweet, that could be a hassle.

I'd taken authentication as a given since it's such a low hurdle; from all I've read and in two cases I was personally involved in, all it would take is an affidavit or in-court sworn averment that he logged into the pertinent site and reviewed the page that he personally knew to have been hers. In the highly unlikely event that she both A) appears and B) claims it's somebody else's account, it'd probably still get in from his statements alone and just face a credibility issue. In the unlikely event that the judge asks for more, he could easily throw in additional indicia such as precisely how he came to know it to be hers, photos linked to the account, connections to known friends or family members, tweets reflecting known events in her life, etc. etc. etc. I'd agree that in an overabundance of caution he should have all of these ducks in a row well in advance.

I need the address of her residence to sue her, right?

This totally depends on the local court rules. Small claims courts typically have relatively relaxed rules where you may be able to send certified mail or even regular first class mail to a "last known address" depending on the dollar amount of the claim, and if it doesn't bounce back, it's all good. Service by publication may even be available after exhausting other methods.

[KrazyHorse]

Can we get back to basics and discuss albie and his poor life decisions, not some nonsense about legal mumbo jumbo?

[Darius871]

Can we get back to basics and discuss albie and his poor life decisions, not some nonsense about legal mumbo jumbo?

We are in a roundabout way, by guiding his first step in what will surely be a long and illustrious legal career.