Evidence Record

US Federal, Eastern District of Pennsylvania  ·  2018  ·  Fabrication

Malone v. Weiss

(E.D. Pa. 2018)

EmailDocument metadata

What happened

The plaintiff in this civil action produced a set of emails as key evidence in support of their claims. Forensic metadata analysis, conducted on the plaintiff's own devices and email client, showed that the emails had been created or modified on those devices in ways that were inconsistent with the claimed dates and the claimed sequence of events. The emails existed in multiple altered versions on the plaintiff's computers, consistent with documents having been fabricated or doctored after the fact. Critically, the emails did not come from a third-party server or an intercepted communication: they came from the plaintiff's own machines, and the plaintiff's own device metadata proved the creation timeline was incompatible with the claimed history. The court dismissed the entire complaint as a sanction for the fabrication. The case illustrates that email metadata is generated by the sender's own system and can be altered by anyone with access to the device or mail client.

Outcome

Entire complaint dismissed as a sanction for fabrication.

Sources

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