Court Procedures / Evidence / Service

In terms of whether or not emails may be considered in an initial case where a petitioner is trying to prove harassment via emails, it often depends on the judge and on the state’s “rules of evidence.” Generally, each state is governed by what are called “rules of evidence.” The rules generally deal with what is allowed as evidence in court - and address issues such as exceptions to the rule against “hearsay;” what types of documents may have to be certified in order for them to be admitted into court during a trial; and other topics. Generally both parties have a chance to testify about what they have personal knowledge of and different judges may have different views about whether or not emails can be admitted (accepted) into court For example, there may be specific steps that a person has to prove in court in order for the judge to allow (admit) emails into evidence. Some judges may require proof that the sender of the email was the actual respondent (as opposed to another person using his/her email account) or the person may have to print out the email with the “header” in order to prove which IP address it came from, and then may have to subpoena the email provider to prove who the registered owner of the email account is.

However, if a person has a protective order, whether it’s temporary or permanent, and the respondent violates it, the police may look at any sort of evidence of the violation. So, phone records, emails, texts, etc., may all be considered by the police and/or a judge to prove a violation of a protection order. If a person is prosecuted for violating the order, the district attorney (prosecutor) may be the one to figure out what sort of evidence is needed to prove that the respondent was the author of the emails.

To get advice about your specific case, it might be helpful to consult with a lawyer in STATE. It is very complicated and often extremely hard for a non-lawyer to understand or to apply the rules of evidence to an actual hearing. If you can, you may want to talk to a lawyer to represent you or at least to have a consultation with a lawyer for advice – the following page provides links to both a private attorney referral service and legal assistance organizations, which may be free or low-cost to those who qualify: LINK