New technologies have meant new crimes and new civil liability.
Although forgeries, forensic analysis, and criminal cover-ups are
as familiar as Sherlock Holmes, electronic data has created an
entirely new means of falsifying evidence and necessitated
specialized investigative methods. In response, government agencies
have started entirely new investigative divisions and companies
involved in their own private investigations or litigation have
been forced to hire special experts.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of
Florida recently ruled on the reliability of a digital forensic
expert's report. In Coqina Investments v. Rothstein and TD Bank,
2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120267 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 18, 2011), the court
was presented with allegations of electronic forgery in a civil
case. As part of the litigation, the court was asked to rule on
several traditional Daubert motions seeking to exclude the
testimony of various traditional types of experts,
