Electronic Evidence FAQ

Q. What can I expect to receive by way of discovery from the Government?
A. The government may produce discovery through physical or digital format. Physical formats may include boxes of documents stacks of photographs, etc. Digital formats may include audio CDs, video CDs, or images on a CD.

Q. If i receive physical evidence such as boxes of photographs or documents what is the best way to convert them to a digital format?
A. You can scan these images in house with a standard scanner or outsource the project to Kinkos or other document imaging or management companies. We recommend image formats either be in TIFF or JPG.

Q. What is a TIFF or a JPG?
A. These are two common formats for digital images on computers. In general TIFF files result in a higher quality and also take up more computer disk space. When saving a scanned document or photograph the software should give you the option to save as either TIFF or JPG.

Q. What do I do with the disk the Government produced or the evidence I digitalized?
A. Reivew the evidence thoroughly, as some data may be corrupted or it may not be of adequate quality for viewing purposes. If a file is corrupt, attempt to resave or contact the Government. Make sure to have a back up copy of the CD either on your harddrive or by way of another CD.

Q. What changes, if any, can I make to the digital evidence?
A. While you cannot alter the evidence, you can emphasize certain apsects of photos, videos and audio through such software as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, MS Paint, Adobe Premier, Goldwave, etc. Photoshop, Illustrator and Paint can be used to crop, label, sharpen, brighten, enlarge, and reduce photographs or digital images. Premier is used to edit videos by removing unnecesary video and adding titles. Goldwave can edit your audio by increasing or decreasing volume, removing unnecesary audio.

Q.