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Computer crime expert sees need for informatics in courtroom
Trial lawyers should broaden their expertise in electronic data collection if they hope to present best evidence, an expert in electronic discovery has stated.
Edward Stroz, CBA , founder and co-president of the global consulting firm Stroz Friedberg, LLC, said that the field of information science, known as informatics has become critical to the collection, delivery and analysis of data. now that millions of documents exist electronically.
Stroz delivered the 2010 Clavius Distinguished Lecture presented by Fordham's Department of Computer and Information Science. In his lecture, “The Role of Informatics in Our Justice System,” Stroz outlined some pitfalls of having an inexperienced team parse electronic data to present as fact in a case. Some lawyers misunderstand the term “create date” in a document’s metadata and, therefore, may make an innocent, yet mistaken, analysis of how long a document has existed.
He also warned about altered electronic documents that may be erroneously admitted into evidence, and questioned lawyers understanding of how electronic documents compare to paper documents.
Conversely, Stroz cited the “immaculate memo” in a famous Enron litigation as an example of how an informatics analyst can uncover the smoking gun in a case. The memo, which proved that Enron manipulated a $7 million sale, was rumored to exist, said Stroz, but nobody had allegedly “handled” it. It was eventually discovered in a network share file with the use of forensic programming, said Stroz, and introduced into evidence.
In today’s world of e-mail, BlackBerries, hard drives, multiple servers and off-site storage, Stroz said, practically nothing is completed deleted. Even a suspect’s Internet search trail can be revisited to prove intent.
Because of the relative newness of the field of electronic discovery, Stroz said, many people today want third-party assurance that data identification, preservation and production has been done right.
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