As to the authenticity of the chat printouts, Investigator Suber testified that [minor child] K.S. printed the chats and delivered them to her. K.S. confirmed to Investigator Suber that the messages were exactly what was on his computer. Investigator Suber testified that a section of chat messages was missing, but that the remainder appeared unaltered. In his trial testimony, K.S. confirmed Investigator Suber’s account.
In response, [Defendant] offered the testimony of Jim Persinger, a computer forensics expert. Persinger testified that K.S.’s method of producing the printouts created a possibility for alteration. However, Persinger admitted that he had no evidence of any alteration or tampering. Persinger also admitted that the substance of many of the chats was corroborated by e-mail messages and subsequent events. The district court determined that the Government had made a prima facie showing of authenticity, and refused to exclude the printouts.
U.S. v. Lebowitz, 2012 WL 1123845, 3 (C.A.11 (Ga. (C.A.11 (Ga.),2012)
