By William D. Slicker
The use of emojis has become so common in communications that their meanings have become evidence in the courtroom. As of now, hundreds of court opinions have allowed emojis as evidence.
In Massachusetts, in a murder trial, the court allowed testimony that the defendant messaged a witness that he had problems on his hands and sent this emoji: 😵 and the word “explosive”.
In Nebraska, a student was suspended from school for posting “Tomorrow gonna be hella fire 🔥 be there.”
In Ohio, a defendant was convicted of witness intimidation for posting a photo of the witness with a caption under the photo stating, “This n___ look like he just snitch for fun” with 🤣 and a 💀 in the caption.
In a securities fraud case, in commenting on Bed Bath & Beyond stock, stockholder Ryan Cohen sent a 🌝 (smiling moon) emoji (which meant the value of the stock was going to go ‘to the moon’) to his hundreds of thousands of online followers to encourage them to buy that stock. They did. The price soared. Then Cohen sold his stock. The other investors lost millions.
In Maine, Corey Farley was convicted of having sex with an eleven year old. The evidence against him included a series of messages between Farley and the victim which included the eggplant emoji. The victim testified that the 🍆 emoji meant a penis.
In Canada, Mr. Achter was sent a contract from South West with the words “Please confirm flax contract.” Mr. Achter responded with a 👍 emoji. The court held that this was sufficient to make a birding contract.
In a case arising from possession in Kentucky, the court found no abuse of discretion in allowing a witness interpretation of the 💦 emoji to mean methamphetamine.
It seems that every year the emojis become even more common. So if you have not yet seen an emoji pop up in one of your cases, keep looking, you probably will. 👀
