Case Study

Our young 18 year old client with a clean record was charged with raping a 16 year old girl at a party.  She was his former girlfriend.  On the night of the party, they had consumed alcohol.  Prior to and after the sexual encounter, there had been messaging on snapchat about the anticipated sexual encounter.  This messaging showed that the sexual activity was consensual.  The complainant had deleted her messaging and did not show this messaging to the Police.  With the assistance of Telco experts and our private investigator, we were able to retrieve the snapchat messages.

At trial it became apparent that the complainant was hiding information.  A further review of her social media accounts showed discussion about the alleged rape and contradictory accounts from what she reported to the Police.  This was able to be used at trial and assisted in undermining both her credibility and reliability.

This case demonstrates the importance of social media and the necessity of having lawyers that can navigate the complexities involved in finding relevant information for a trial.