## Facts

- Antoine Levar Griffin was tried for offenses arising from a homicide.
- The State sought to introduce printed pages from a MySpace profile it attributed to Jessica Barber, Griffin’s girlfriend.
- The profile displayed an apparent photograph of Barber and listed identifying details (including birth date and location) and included a message warning against “snitching.”
- The State offered the printouts to suggest Barber’s bias against a State’s witness and in Griffin’s favor.
- The State did not ask Barber whether she created the profile or authored the message.
- The State instead relied on a police investigator who testified that he printed the pages and that certain identifiers matched Barber.
- The record lacked platform records, technical data, or forensic evidence linking the profile or message to Barber or showing her control over the account.
- Over defense objection for lack of authentication, the trial court admitted the MySpace printouts.

## Issues

1. Whether the MySpace printouts were properly authenticated under Maryland Rule 5-901 as evidence “what the proponent claims.”
2. Whether generic profile identifiers (photo, birth date, location) and an investigator’s testimony about printing the pages suffice to attribute authorship or control of a social-networking profile and posts to a particular person.
3. Whether admitting the printouts on that foundation was an abuse of discretion.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Maryland held the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the MySpace printouts.
- The identifiers on the profile, as presented, were insufficient “distinctive characteristics” to authenticate the pages as Barber’s.
- The Court reasoned that the possibility of third-party creation or posting could not be ruled out on the State’s limited showing.
- The Court reversed the evidentiary ruling and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its authentication analysis.

## Legal Principles

- Authentication requires evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims (Md. Rule 5-901); the threshold is modest but requires a reliable link to the purported source.
- For social-networking evidence, superficial identifiers (such as a name, photograph, birth date, or location) may be inadequate by themselves to prove authorship or control because online content can be fabricated or posted by others.
- Social-media content can be authenticated through methods such as:
  - testimony from the purported creator that the account and post are theirs,
  - forensic examination of a relevant computer and its internet history or stored data, or
  - information or records obtained from the platform tying the account or posting to the alleged user.

## Conclusion

The court required a meaningful evidentiary foundation connecting social-networking printouts to the alleged author or account controller and held that profile identifiers plus an investigator’s testimony about printing the pages did not satisfy Rule 5-901 in this case.


Griffin v. State, 19 A.3d 415 (Md. 2011)