A bar should be a place to enjoy a few drinks and watch a football game. It should not be a place where another patron swings a fist at you, resulting in a bar fight that causes an Alaska prosecutor to charge you with assault. If you should become involved in a bar fight case, be cautious about what you say on social media about it.
Social media allows people to express their thoughts on any subject they wish. Unfortunately, what you post on a social media platform may not always be private. In fact, law enforcement may find what you post and use it against you in a criminal proceeding.
The problems with social media posts
According to Forbes, it is legal for law enforcement to use text, pictures and video that you post online as evidence against you in court. If someone claims to be the victim of an assault but posts pictures showing the person looking fine and performing physical activities that do not indicate injury, law enforcement may use those pictures against the supposed victim.
Similarly, you want to be careful what you say about any case you might become involved in. If you defend yourself against assault and later brag about fighting your attacker, the police might take your words as proof that you were the aggressor. Even if you post using a private setting, a court might subpoena your passwords to get into your account.
Be careful about deleting posts
It is natural to feel nervous about what you have recently posted if you find yourself in legal trouble. You may think it is best to purge your accounts of recent posts or perhaps all of them to avoid incrimination. However, a court might interpret such action as an attempt to destroy evidence. This can negatively impact you depending on the severity of your case. Creating a strategy to handle your social media is a matter you will likely work out with your defense attorney.
