Bad Romance e-Discovery Style: Text Messages in an Ugly Break Up

e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Text Messages

Discussion of In re C. C., 2009 Cal. App. LEXIS 1715 (Cal. App. 3d Dist. Oct. 27, 2009) at the Paraben Forensic Innovation Conference.

The case involved a bad high school break-up, where the teenage boy sent vulgar text messages venting anger to ex-girlfriend.

The Juvenile Court took words from the text messages out of contents and found texts were 1) threatening and 2) obscene.

The Court on appeal held text messages were neither threatening nor obscene.  The Court found the texts did not threaten any physical harm, as required by statute. Furthermore, the text messages in context did not qualify as obscene. As such, the case was reversed for lack of substantial evidence.