Cellphone Video in Court

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Before the cellphone camera. 

Video was in the court room before cellphones. Do courts still wheel in those video players in which prosecutors and defense lawyers used, to slide in VHS tapes with incriminating evidence?

In the ideal world, we should be well-behaved, not committing any crime like shoplifting, assault or murder because we would remember that there’s a camera somewhere. Police won’t kill only black men regularly, because of police body-worn cameras.

Unfortunately, the existence of video does not deter us from committing crime. We have a simplistic approach to our actions. Nobody saw me. I won’t get caught, forgetting that video is everywhere, in the woods, in toilet cubicles, even your gate. Technology is so advanced, someone can hide a camera on a shrub in your garden.

But, some of that video might be inadmissible evidence, you argue. I’m not a lawyer. I only know that term from books and crime television. Whether it is admissible or not, the fact remains you were caught on video.

Enter Covid-19. We wear masks so we don’t know who is who. Video can capture perpetrators of a crime, but how does the court identify them? We all wear the same blue, pink or black disposable masks from the drugstore.

Despite masks, prosecutors and defense lawyers will continue to use video as evidence, captured mainly on cellphones and CCTV. Just make sure you are not caught in any compromising situation.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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