FORENSIC EXPERT REPORTS

In order to convincingly present a technical aspect that may prove guilt or innocence, courts may request an analysis of a questioned technical issue. In many countries, the defendant may have to find a forensics laboratory with qualified experts who can investigate devices. Their forensics expert report can be then be handed into court by the defending lawyer.

This is where forensics expert analysis report can overcome unjustly stated accusations that non specialized state forensic experts may put against a defendant. We take great pride in delivering a 360 degree evidence review document as we thereby leave no possible route open for the opposing side to distort or misrepresent the truth.

As we provide services also for authorities we duely believe in treating the truth as highly valuable asset in dealing with criminal procedings. Our forensic experts also provide expertise and training to the security services. Our reputation is our word.

LABORATORY REPORTS FOR COURTS

In today’s complex world many activities are influenced by technology. Companies make deals via email, Citizens participate in debates via smartphone apps and ideas turn into new business models based on the empowerment which the digital world provides us.

A forensic report can help understand the evidence hidden in computers, smartphones, servers, emails, and other digital evidence. Our experts have written reports for courts in different countries (e.g. Germany, Turkey, …).

Our laboratory has full documentation in order to comply with ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 17025 (Laboratory Reliability, Standards & Independence) and ISO27001 (IT Security). Furthermore, our processes comply with ISO 27035 – 27042 (Standards for handling digital evidence).

WHEN DOES ONE NEED A FORENSIC EXPERT REPORT?

When a dispute or a legal issue appears, technology does not help get a clear picture of what is the truth. Even when somebody is accused of having participated or supported a criminal organization then it really becomes an important issue to defend the truth.

This is when lawyers, judges, accused, plaintiffs and defendants can no longer make sense of what technical aspects really mean. In some cases, lawyers have conveyed a wrong picture. They hereby put their clients and themselves in the risk of misrepresentation or committing a crime of lying under oath.

This is when a forensics expert can help make sense of a disputed technical aspect that may decide whether a judge rules for or against one of the parties. Every jurisdiction in the world operates by different rules, but they all understand that technology can be very confusing for all parties involved in a court meeting.

Example #1:
2 Companies are fighting in court over invoices. One party claims to have received confirmation of the order. The other party states these emails presented by the defendant are fake. This is when each side tries to weaken the other sides arguments. After some time throwing confusing technical claims, a judge will be confused. It will be very difficult to make sense as only highly specialized people with deep knowledge in information technology can evaluate claims, evidence, and other information in order to identify the truth.

Example #2:
A real estate agent sells a house. The buyer was referred to him via a financial services company. Before the sale, they had different misunderstandings and eventually do get a happy buyer and seller. After this deal, the financial company asks for a referral fee. The agent declines as he never offered a percentage of the real estate agents fee. Upon this, the court has to decide whether the financial company has a right to a share of the fees. Their claim against the defending agent is based on a message sent by the agent. The agent states in court that he declined to provide a fee share and that he never sent such a message. This is where the court begins to suspect fraud and requests the parties to agree to have a forensic expert examine the digital evidence to see f the documents are real or have been falsified.

Example #3:
A person of economic importance is arrested with the argument that he actively supported a criminal organization that orchestrated an attack on national security. Due to the situation in the country, hardly any lawyer is willing to take on the job. There might be one experienced lawyer that is not fearful of the public opinion. Nevertheless, many national technical experts may be biased due to the influence of public opinion and news broadcasts. Hence, a neutral forensic laboratory with no political interest in the situation of that country can help to examine the digital evidence and relate it to the accusations of the court. The framework upon some national security interests are put above the freedom of individuals can be based on all sorts of digital evidence. Sometimes people are accused of using illegal smartphone apps and sometimes they are accused of providing internet access to criminal elements. A forensics expert can search for traces and examine the core element of the accusation.

Example #4:
A country is accused of damaging a company in a foreign country in order to support its national economic interests. Sometimes these claims are based on economic industrial espionage. Other times it is a mere attempt to run a DDoS attack in order to freeze a companies business activities, so that becomes unable to operate and has to solve its sales problems as clients can no longer post orders and get deliveries.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PROVE A COURTS EXPERT HAS PRESENTED A WRONG CONCLUSION?

With the complexity of the different technologies fields, some courts request a report from matter experts who are actually not an expert in this particular field which has to be examined. Usually, experts are bound to first assess if they can actually assist the court to get a clear picture, but even they can lose track of the complexity. This eventually results in a wrong expert report. In some cases, we have had to reassess the entire evidence and present a by far more detailed examination report. Upon such a forensic laboratory analysis the results can become quite an opposite picture. Hereby the court eventually has the difficult situation of deciding to drop the first report in favor of the much more complex and detailed report that shows a totally different picture which was not depicted by the first expert.

The job of a court expert is to help the judge understand the technical aspects of disputed evidence so that he is empowered to make a judgment. Nevertheless, no expert is safe against error or overlooking aspects that might have quite important implications for a party in court. Hence, a second opinion is not an attack on the expert himself, but an attempt to get an even clearer picture and validate the other expert’s rationalization.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FORENSICS EXPERT AND A COMPUTER EXPERT?

A computer expert can install your server, help you use Microsoft Office or attach your smartphone to your corporate email account. Nevertheless, when it comes to forensics the expertise must go way beyond this level of general knowledge. This is when only a forensics expert can help make sense of a misleading bundle of digital evidence.

WHICH ISSUES CAN OUR FORENSICS EXPERTS HELP CLARIFY?

  • Inspect emails for possible manipulation or fake content
  • assess the results of company data which was deleted against the will of the employer
  • Examine illegal documents used to discredit a company or political organization
  • Image analysis to identify fake pictures and edited CCTV videos

Please Note: In Germany, we call a Forensic Expert Report a “Gutachten eines Sachverständigen”.

KEY ELEMENTS

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