Is investigating social media an important part of divorce proceedings?
Jimmie: It’s probably just as important as anything else we might do on a case. It’s one element of many elements that we have to do. Surveillance is usually the big one. We want to watch a spouse, but we go into sort of social media to find out what they’re into, where they go, where they hang out, because that gives us a lead as to where we might find them when we can’t find the spouse. You know, where are they hiding, where are they disappearing to?
Do you need to have the logins?
Jimmie: It’s helpful, but sometimes it’s unnecessary. I mean, we can check accounts. Most of the time the client does have the sign-in to get into a social media account, but there are many investigative means by which we can get into people’s accounts which I wouldn’t be readily interested in exposing.
Let’s put it this way, when it comes to information, there’s nothing that is confidential, there’s nothing that’s sacred, there’s nothing that’s impossible to acquire no matter what information you think it is. It depends on what price is someone willing to pay for that information, and the ethics of the investigator as to whether or not he or she would cross the line to get certain information, but for the most part, investigators are licensed by a governmental agency, they’re not going to risk their careers for making a few dollars breaking the law getting certain kinds of information.
Stephen Levine, is a Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Defense — an honor achieved by only the top criminal law attorneys in California. Mr. Levine has over 40 years of experience in criminal defense and family law serving Southern California, and is a highly regarded Super Lawyer as well as AV Rated attorney.