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Digital evidence conference wraps up at Forensic Science Center
John Sammons, director of the Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence, organized and took part in the institute's first digital evidence conference this week at the Marshall University Forensic Science Center.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- Nearly 100 attorneys, forensic science students and local, state and federal law enforcement personnel wrapped up a weeklong digital forensics conference Friday, put on by the new Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence.
The conference, which took place at the Marshall University Forensic Science Center, focused on the growth of digital evidence in both criminal and civil cases and how officials should deal with it.
"This is a moving target," said John Sammons, director of the institute. "To sit still and not get a handle on this is a big mistake and a liability."
The conference focused on a number of topics, including network security and forensics, Internet investigations, digital forensics and USB tracking and an overview of electronic discovery.
The final session on discovery focused on several subtopics about leaving digital fingerprints and e-discovery's role in court cases.
Sammons, an assistant professor in Marshall's Integrated Science and Technology Department, helped found the institute to serve as a resource for professionals who will deal with digital evidence either in evidence collection or in litigation.
Sammons said keeping up with how technology interacts with the law also is important for judges, victim advocates and victims. He also indicated that digital evidence isn't just checking cell phone or laptop hard drives. As video game systems have evolved to include online capabilities, they have become evidence in any number of crimes.
"We want to expose law enforcement to what's out there," he said. You could overlook evidence because you don't think it was or could be evidence. The handwriting is on the wall. This is the new DNA."
The institute is a product of a public-private partnership that includes Jackson Kelly Attorneys at Law, AccessData, Second Creek Technologies, the Forensic Science Center and the departments of Integrated Science & Technology and Criminal Justice & Criminology.
