Police and investigators also know about these services, and they also know that lots of people under investigation may use Facebook, Twitter, MySpace – not just celebrities!

But there are problems with such services if you are facing a DUI, drug, misdemeanor, or felony charge.

I’ve seen instances of police investigators or detectives in Raleigh, Cary or Apex searching and printing out MySpace pages or Facebook pages where there may be evidence of “gang activity” (pictures of people flashing gang signs or referring to gangs), “drug activity” (admissions or pictures of people using drugs), or other sorts of activity that might suggest guilt. In many cases, these MySpace pages just show people having a good time, but, coupled with other evidence, they may suggest guilty or criminal conduct if ever presented to a juryA jury may be either a grand jury or a petit jury. A grand jury is a jury that determines whether there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed a crime. The result is an indictmentAn indictment is a finding by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed a crime. An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An indictment, rather, is a method by which a prosecutor moves a case into Superior Court for resolution by plea or trial by jury. that sends the case into Superior Court, perhaps for a jury trial. A petit jury or simply a jury is the jury of 12 people who have been selected to hear and render a verdict in a case..

This isn’t to mean you should be paranoid.  Police don’t regularly check Facebook or MySpace or other pages like that for criminality.  But if they’re investigating a crime, and think you may be involved or know who is involved, they may check to see if you have a MySpace or Facebook page.

Where can this evidence be most damaging?  Well, let me give you one example.  Let’s imagine you’ve been stopped for a DUI.  And let’s imagine your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter page have comments you made earlier in the night that you were going out to “party” or “drink” or “get wasted”.  Let’s imagine the police really want to nail you.  It’s very easy to do a search, find if you have such a page, find out if you’ve made comments that are incriminating, and use those to suggest to a juryA jury may be either a grand jury or a petit jury. A grand jury is a jury that determines whether there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed a crime. The result is an indictmentAn indictment is a finding by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed a crime. An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An indictment, rather, is a method by which a prosecutor moves a case into Superior Court for resolution by plea or trial by jury. that sends the case into Superior Court, perhaps for a jury trial. A petit jury or simply a jury is the jury of 12 people who have been selected to hear and render a verdict in a case. that you were planning to get drunk, and took no precautions when you drove your car.

Even if your Facebook or MySpace page is “private” it may not be completely private.  And even if it is private, the police could subpoena records from Facebook or MySpace of your “private” pages.  So simply making these pages “private” is not a solution.

My advice is obviously be smart about what you write on your Facebook pages, and what kind of pictures you post.  You don’t want to end up like Michael Phelps, where pictures of smoking a bong are used to prove criminal activity. And you don’t want to end up like The Hills star Stephanie Pratt who got stopped for a DUI and whose Twitter page listed her statement earlier that night that she was going out to party.

If you think you may be accused of a crime, or you’ve been stopped for a DUI in Raleigh or Cary or Apex, and you want to talk about how to handle Facebook, MySpace or Twitter social networking sites, give me a call at (919) 352-9411