People v. Valdez (2011)

In People v. Valdez (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 1429, the defendant argued for reversal of his convictions for attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and street terrorism on the ground that printouts of his MySpace social media Internet page had not been properly authenticated. (Id. at pp. 1433-1434.) The reviewing court disagreed, noting the defendant did not dispute that the MySpace page icon identifying the owner of the page displayed the defendant's face, and other material on the page pointed to the defendant as the owner of the page. (Id. at p. 1435.) In holding that the trial court did not err, the appellate court noted that particular items on the page, including a photograph of the defendant forming a gang signal with his hand, met the threshold for the jury to determine authenticity. (Id. at p. 1436.) The court observed, "The contents of a document may authenticate it. " (Ibid.) While the defendant was free to argue otherwise to the jury, a reasonable trier of fact could conclude from the posting of personal photographs, communications, and other details that the MySpace page belonged to him. (Ibid.)