Making Sure Your Photos and Video Can Be Used as Evidence

It is really not all that difficult to get photographic evidence or video evidence introduced into a case.

There is an age- old "7-Prong Test" for this type of evidence to be admitted:


1)   It must be proved that the camera was capable of taking photos/video.  In other words Was the camera was in good operating condition without malfunctions?

2)   The person taking the video/photos must be shown to be competent in the use and operation of the camera.

3)   The authenticity and correctness of the recording must be documented. You must be able to document  that tampering with the photos/video has not occurred.

4)   You also must be able to show that the video or photographs have not had any additions, deletions or changes made. Note:  You must be able to testify that the video is a true and complete recording, free of editing or tampering of any kind.  If a video is edited (like many need to be to have a time-stamp), the original unedited copy must be available for review by the court.  I also often have to convert the files to another format, as the court may not be able to view the original format.

5)   The court must be shown the manner of presentation.

6)   The recordings must show proper identification of the subjects depicted in the video or photographs.  Note:   The investigator must have proper facial views of the subject documented so that the identity of the subjects can be assessed.  Either that or other distinctive markings, or tattoos must be clearly visable.

7)   You need to be able to show that the actions was elicited voluntarily without inducement.  You cannot cause a situation that would create circumstances that would make the subject act differently than they might without the circumstances presented to them.  For example:  you cannot let the air out of a tire to cause the subject to have to change the tire.  This comes down to entrapment.

If you can meet the 7-prong test, you can get the evidence admitted.  Questions about video or photos on an SD card and whether they are on the orginal SD card are not really relevant.  SD cards are merely temporary storage devices for the evidence themselves.

Whatever you do - stay safe!

Time - Stamping Videos - One More Way

I forgot that I had one piece of equipment that I can "time stamp" videos with.  I had bought this over a year ago.  I normally do not use it, because to me, it is just too time consuming.  However, it is the cheapest way out there to make time-stamped videos from HD camcorders.  You just play the video in the Camcorder displaying the date and time when this device is connected between the camcorder and a computer.

You can record the file in an avi file that will have the time and date stamp.  This is OK for short recordings, for longer ones it still works, but it only works in real time.  So however long the recording is, that is how long it takes (plus set-up time) for you to make the recording.

Here is one such device from Amazon:

It is called Easycap.

I hope this works out for you as it has for me.  And

Stay Safe!