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Robbery Suspect Cleared By Facebook Alibi

Posted by Soulskill on from the your-computer-is-broadcasting-an-ip-address dept.

postermmxvicom writes "Rodney Bradford has been cleared of robbery charges because of a Facebook update. The defense was able to prove that the update was made from his father's house, 13 miles away from the crime committed one minute earlier. Lawyer John G. Browning said, 'This is the first case that I’m aware of in which a Facebook update has been used as alibi evidence. We are going to see more of that because of how prevalent social networking has become.' Surely, this must be media hype, since it would not be a difficult alibi to fake."

7 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet! by d3ac0n · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So basically,

    I can go commit any crime I want, as long as I use a remote desktop/VNC program to remote into my PC at home from my smart phone and post something to Facebook immediately afterward?

    SWEET! Time to to rob that bank!

    --
    Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
    1. Re:Sweet! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or, for a lower tech solution, just get someone else to do it.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. Re:HTTP Proxy? VPN Tunnel? by autocracy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Most evidence, with enough effort, can be faked. We usually call those conspiracies.

    It would be a great amount of effort for a small robbery to perform this task and to get the corroborating evidence. There is very reasonable doubt that he committed the crime.

    --
    SIG: HUP
  4. Re:HTTP Proxy? VPN Tunnel? by whoda · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They did consider VPN's and Proxies and fairies too.
    They also had witnesses, aka Real People, who also testified he was at his fathers house.
    It was corroborating evidence, not the piece the case hinged on.

    Once again, Facebook verified what multiple REAL PEOPLE were telling the cops. It wasn't the only piece of evidence.

    You love how ignorant people are of the legal profession, I love how people like you are so pompous and know-it-all's they can't even read the article.

  5. Presumption of innocence by Dachannien · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One thing that some folks have forgotten here is that the guy was presumed innocent until the prosecution could prove him guilty. If there's evidence from Facebook indicating that he updated his status, then the prosecution would need to show that the guy was using a proxy/tunnel/whatever, or that he had someone else post for him, etc. Otherwise, it provides a reasonable doubt as to whether he was even at the scene of the crime.

  6. Re:HTTP Proxy? VPN Tunnel? by bumburumbi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, it is within the realm of the possible that somebody sat down and applied Occams razor to the possible scenarios: The first scenario involves this bloke (1) planning to rob somebody, (2) setting up a proxy or vpn service and (3) some people conspiring to give false evidence. The second scenario: The bloke was at home and nobody lied.