미국에 있어 디지털증거의 증거능력

The legal community in America currently calls evidence produced or controlled by electronics and/or computers as “ditigal evidence”, “e-evidence”, “electronic evidence”, “computer-generated evidence”, or “hi-tech evidence.” Examples of digital evidence is inclusive of digital and digitally-enhanced photo-graphs, videotapes and audiotapes, e-mail, instant mesages, internet chat rooms and blogs, internet website data, computerized medical records, satellite imagery, text messaging, cad designs, and computer simulations and animations. The foundational requirements for admissibility of digital evidence in America are as follows: First, the digital evidence need to be authentic. Second, after proving authenticity of the digital evidence, a proponent must overcome hearsay barrier. Third, a proponent sometimes has to contend with a third obstacle referred to as “the best evidence rule.” On the contrary, digital evidence is always admissible in Korea as long as it is not against Koreaʼs Constitution or other laws because the fact-finder in Korea is not jury, but a judge or judges. Nonetheless, theories and practices related to ad-missibility of digital evidence in America will be useful for Korean legal commun-ity to deal with credibility of digital evidence.