From Bow Tie Law’s Blog:
A Defendant in a gang related murder and assault case sought to introduce evidence of the victim’s sister’s MySpace page to show the victim’s violent nature toward a rival gang; a propensity for violence; and that the victim started the fight that ended in his death. People v. Williams, 2010 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1251, at *23 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. Feb. 23, 2010).
The Court excluded the MySpace as evidence.
The Sister’s MySpace Profile
The victims were brother and sister. The brother was killed in a gun fight with the Defendants.
The sister’s Myspace profile contained a series of photos (or video, the opinion is not clear) of the siblings dressed as rival gang members. The MySpace evidence depicted the brother pretending to punch the sister and her falling to the ground. Williams, at *23.
The MySpace evidence was described as a videotape of the profile. Id. This implies that a video camera was set to record the profile. It is also highly possible the profile contained video and it was collected as a video file.
One of the Defendants tried to use the video to show the victim was violent toward members of the rival gang. Williams, at *23. The State objected to the video evidence on both foundational and relevancy grounds. Id.
Bow Tie Law’s Blog – Exclusion of MySpace Evidence in Gang Related Murder Trial
