Text messages as evidence in court

SMS admissible says the Supreme Court (here in the Philippines).

A saved text message from a Court of Appeals (CA) employee trying to extort P1 million from a litigant proved to be the court worker's undoing.

In deciding the case of indicted CA employee Elvira Cruz-Apao, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that under the present rules on electronic evidence, the short-messaging system (SMS) or text message sent by the latter to her intended victim is sufficient evidence, which corroborates the other proof held by law enforcers against her.

text messages were properly admitted by the committee since the same are now covered by Section 1(k), Rule 2 of the Rules on Electronic Evidence which provides: "Ephemeral electronic communication" refers to telephone conversations, text messages and other electronic forms of communication the evidence of which is not recorded or retained."

"We have no doubt as to the probative value of the text messages as evidence in determining the guilt or lack thereof of respondent in this case," the SC said. Read full news article via Sunstar Online