Josh Gilliland

An Email State of Mind: Confessions of an Online Fraudaholic

July 3, 2009 Josh Gilliland Admissibility, Criminal Procedure, Email, Hearsay

A Criminal Defendant maintained an online business that was a shame: Orders were made and money paid, but the items ordered were either not sent or non-conforming goods instead. This is all fun and games for the Defendant until an undercover FBI agent placed orders in a sting operation. The[…]

Juror Misconduct: When the Judge Says Don’t Talk About the Case, that Includes Facebook & Twitter

June 30, 2009 Josh Gilliland Blogging, Facebook, Jury Blogging, Jury Disqualification, Social Networking

Who knew 140 characters, a few status messages, and tags could play a big role in a court opinion hitting juror misconduct? It is not a huge surprise in a criminal case involving politics, money and fraud. A Little Background: The Criminal Case against the Defendants Multiple Defendants were charged[…]

Admissibility of Text Messages: Challenging Authenticity

June 25, 2009 Josh Gilliland Admissibility, Text Messages, Trial

A criminal defendant appealing his conviction on ineffective counsel and insufficient evidence to support his convictions challenged text message evidence. State v. Loye, 2009 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 660, 1 (Minn. Ct. App. 2009). The Defendant’s key argument at trial was challenging his victim’s credibility as the only witness to[…]

Compelling Production of Hard Drives & Metadata to Show Time Worked

June 23, 2009 Josh Gilliland e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Imaging Hard Drives

The Defendants in a disability suit brought a motion to compel for the following ESI from the Plaintiff: (1) The Plaintiff’s desktop computer hard drive; (2) Any computer hard drive the Plaintiff used for business from March 23, 2005 until the present; and (3) All business computer storage media from[…]

Request for Production: Any and All Documents in the Past 46 Years Supporting the Overthrow of a Communist Government

June 22, 2009 Josh Gilliland Criminal Procedure, Discovery, Neutrality Act, Request for Production

Sometimes there is a case that is just too unique to pass up. This is one of those cases. The Defendants in a criminal case were charged in a conspiracy to ship weapons to Laos to overthrow the Communist Government. United States v. Jack, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43120, 2-3[…]

Motion to Compel Camera Phone Photo

June 19, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Form of Production, Request for Production

Just as the Def Leppard Song Goes: All I got is a photograph — and it is not enough. (from the classic Photograph) The Defendants requested a photo from a Plaintiff that was taken on his cell phone. The Plaintiffs in turn produced the photo. There was one little problem[…]

Dodging a Mistrial for Juror Misconduct

June 18, 2009 Josh Gilliland Blogging, Jury Disqualification

In an age where reporters are Tweeting from Courthouses and Citizen Paparazzi (Snaparazzi) roam the streets with iPhones, one can imagine a slip of the tongue resulting in juror misconduct. In the nightmare case of an elderly defendant who drove through a farmers’ market, the question of juror misconduct surfaced[…]

The Return of Covad Communications: Forensic Imaging of Databases & Email Servers

June 17, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Imaging Hard Drives, Request for Production, Search Terms

Magistrate Judge Facciola’s “Christmas Eve” opinion now has a sequel: Covad Communs. Co. v. Revonet, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47841 (D.D.C. May 27, 2009). This opinion is very detailed covering issues of forensic examinations, email servers and commentary on retention policies. I encourage lawyers to look at this opinion. […]

The Plumbing of a Motion to Compel

June 15, 2009 Josh Gilliland Culling, Deposition, Discovery, Document Review, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Litigation Hold, Motion to Compel, Processing, Request for Production

In a product defect case about brass plumbing fittings, the Defendants fought a motion to compel electronically stored information relevant to class certification, because of undue burden and cost. They lost…in large part. In re Zurn Pex Plumbing Prods. Liab. Litig., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47636, 1 (D. Minn. June[…]