Obtaining and Using Social Media Evidence (2026 Edition)

Colin Miller, Professor of Law | University of South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law Colin Miller is a Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law, where he also holds the Thomas H. Pope Professorship in Trial Advocacy and previously served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development. He teaches Evidence, Criminal Law, and Criminal Adjudication, with expertise spanning Evidence, Criminal Law and Procedure, and Civil Procedure. He is the creator and Blog Editor of EvidenceProf Blog and the co-creator and co-host of the Undisclosed Podcast, which covers cases of possible wrongful convictions. Before joining South Carolina, he taught at UIC Law School and William and Mary, and practiced as an appellate court attorney and a litigation associate.

• Education & Credentials

Miller earned his J.D. from the William and Mary School of Law in 2003, graduating second in his class with a 3.8 GPA and election to the Order of the Coif. He holds a B.A. with Distinction in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar.

• Recognition & Leadership

He was named Professor of the Year in 2014 and received the Thumbs Up Award for making a significant difference for students with disabilities in 2020 and 2021. At UIC he received the Scholarly Achievement Award in 2011, and his article on judicial participation in plea discussions won the 2013 SEALS Call for Papers. EvidenceProf Blog was named to the ABA Blawg 100 in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 and has drawn more than 15.5 million page views, while the Undisclosed Podcast has surpassed 375 million downloads and ranked among the 25 most downloaded podcasts in 2015 and 2016.

• Professional Involvement

Miller is a prolific legal scholar, with dozens of law review articles spanning evidence, criminal procedure, and constitutional law, including work on social media authentication, the best evidence rule, and the rule against hearsay. He has authored or contributed to numerous amici curiae briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court—several resolved in favor of the position advanced—and serves as a question drafter and expert reviewer for the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

• Experience

His pro bono work has produced tangible reforms, including assistance to the families of Breonna Taylor and Andre’ Hill in civil actions yielding multimillion-dollar settlements, and legislation enacted in South Carolina and Nebraska. The Undisclosed Podcast’s investigative work is associated with fifteen exonerations, and he created the Suits for Success Program, which donates professional clothing to law students for internships and jobs.

Jeff Martin, Digital Forensics Expert | Evidence Solutions

Jeff Martin is a certified Digital Forensics Expert with over 20 years of experience and a Digital Evidence Expert Witness at Evidence Solutions, Inc. He specializes in cell phone forensics, computer forensics, cybersecurity, EMR/EHR forensics, and audio/video/imagery forensics, and has conducted hundreds of digital forensics investigations involving the acquisition, preservation, and analysis of data in state and federal courts. Before joining Evidence Solutions, he served as an Advanced Digital Forensic Analyst with the Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit and earlier spent a decade as Chief Information & Security Officer in the financial industry. He is a licensed private investigator in Arizona, Texas, and Michigan.

• Education & Credentials

Martin holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Northern Michigan University and an M.S. in Cyber Security & Information Assurance from Davenport University. His certifications include Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (CFCE), Cellebrite Certified Logical Operator, Cellebrite Certified Physical Analyst, Magnet Certified Forensic Examiner, X-Ways and Advanced X-Ways training, and Hawk Analytics cellular technology, mapping, and analysis training.

• Recognition & Leadership

He maintained a 100% conviction rate across his caseload with the Michigan State Police, and received an award for analyzing vehicle GPS data, cell tower triangulation, and cellphone records to locate a homicide victim buried in a remote forest.

• Professional Involvement

Martin is a faculty instructor at Northern Michigan University and Davenport University and an adjunct instructor teaching Cybercrime & Digital Forensics and the Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) certification course, as well as digital forensics search and seizure at the police academy. He serves as a certification coach for the CFCE credential through IACIS, has trained a dedicated group of judges, magistrates, and attorneys in digital evidence, and is a member of Michigan InfraGard, the Northern Michigan University Cyber Security Advisory Council, and IACIS.

• Experience

His forensic caseload spans over 550 drive imaging examinations, over 700 cellular phone analyses, and over 500 external media devices. He has qualified as an expert in digital forensics examinations in numerous jurisdictions across the United States and in the Cayman Islands. Earlier in his career he served from 1995 to 2007 in the United States Army and Michigan Army National Guard as a military police, protective services, and military intelligence officer.

SESSION 1 – Admissibility of Social Media Evidence | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Get social media evidence admitted under FRE 901 and 902. Master authentication, hearsay exceptions for posts and DMs, best-evidence rules, discovery pathways, Stored Communications Act limits, and spoliation duties—then keep the other side’s evidence out.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Capturing, Preserving, and Presenting Social Media Evidence | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

Capture and preserve social media evidence in a technically defensible way. Learn forensic collection, chain-of-custody protocols, metadata, recovery of deleted content, the risks of attorney self-collection, and how to work with forensic experts at trial.