Can Police Search Your Facebook Page?
Can police use your FaceBook page against you in a criminal case? Yes, and they often do if they can find any evidence.
Hi, my name is Dale Savage and I’m a criminal defense attorney here in Charleston, SC. Today we’re discussing your FB or any social media postings as evidence against you in a criminal case. postings
Do Police Need a Search Warrant?
The popularity of social media and what we put out there for public view is fair game for police and prosecutors alike.
More importantly if your social media posts are set to public, then police do not need a search warrant to obtain that information. In fact, going to a person’s FaceBook profile and looking at their account is one of the tools that law enforcement and prosecutors use today. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s all laid out there in one place for everyone to see.
So what are some of the types of posts that police may use in a criminal case against you. Too many times I have seen photos of people with firearms or shooting firearms, people holding large amounts of cash and firearms, people displaying drugs, people displaying drugs and large amounts of cash.
Sometime police may not know what you look like and only have a name. With FB they get not only pictures of you but also names of people you know, where you work, where you went to school, where you go, the area where you live, they can show victims of crimes in an attempt to identify you.
So you can see why this is now one of the first things law enforcement may do when you are being investigated.
Charleston, SC Criminal Defense Attorney
If have been charged with Crime and want to discuss your options, please call me at (843) 530-7813. I hope this video was helpful and thanks for watching.