Digital Forensic Evidence

Digital forensics are the methods of identifying, analyzing and presenting the evidence found on digital media devices. Due to the heavy use of digital media devices nowadays, the law enforcement and legislations have to make changes, clarifications in order to adapt to the rapid development of the technology. The paper will discuss the various levels of government laws, legislation and court decisions, Federal and Provincial where evidence has been successfully admitted into Canadian criminal trial proceedings.

Legal Authorities for Seizing and Searching of Evidence in Canadian Court

The Supreme Court of Canada defined seizure as “the taking of a thing from a person by a public authority without that person’s content.” It means a person

This type of search is considered as part of the normal procedure of making an arrest. The Supreme Court of Canada has permitted two exceptions to “search incident to arrest” which are seizure of a suspect’s bodily sample and searching of homes during an arrest. In other words, a warrant must be obtained in these two circumstances. In R v. Fearon, Mr. Fearon and two other men were arrested for robbery with firearm. At the time of arrest, the police conducted a pat down search and found a cellphone on Mr. Fearon. The cellphone had evidence related to the robbery and it did not have any passcodes on it. Mr. Fearon said that his Charter right was violated as his phone was searched by the police officers. However, the Court ruled that the cellphone search fell within the scope of “search incident to arrest” and the absence of a password permitted the police to search upon arrest without a warrant, as the contents is available to other users. Furthermore, the police officer had reasons to believe that the search of cellphone content would yield relevant evidence at the time of arrest. The ruling of R v. Fearon limits one’s expectation of privacy with respect to information contained on cellphones and also broadens the admissibility of different evidence in criminal proceedings. The arrest must be lawful and the law enforcement must have a reason based on a valid lawn enforcement purpose to conduct the search. Valid law enforcement purposes are protecting the police, the accused or the public, preserving evidence or discovering evidence that include locating additional suspects. The search is limit to areas where evidence is likely to be found, for instance, text messages or emails. Police must also record detailed notes about the search, including applications opened and the search