12.6.6 Abuser’s Writings

Letters, texts, or emails by the abusive party are his own statements and therefore are not inadmissible hearsay.1

Emails can be particularly easy to spoof, so it is important that a witness authenticate an email through testimony that establishes the history of party communication through the same email address, the existence of any substance or topic in the email that is specific to the defendant, how the witness knows the email is from the defendant, whether the witness printed copies of the email, whether the email copy has been altered in anyway, and whether the printed email is a true and accurate copy of the email the witness received.

• 1La. C.E. art. 801(D)(2)(a); State v. Strickland, 94-0025, p. 22 (La. 11/1/96), 683 So. 2d 218, 229.