Using Extraterritorial Cyber Subpoenas To Obtain Evidence

Cyber subpoenas have been used to obtain records maintained out-of-state by out-of-state witnesses. Both legitimate and illegitimate businesses require accurate and complete records of financial transactions to, among other reasons: balance the books; pay employees and suppliers; determine, pay or evade taxes; and insure the stability of an ongoing business. In a given criminal case, those records may prove guilt or establish a viable defense. For instance, the organized crime empire of Al Capone began to crumble with law enforcement obtaining and analyzing his business records. So it is foreseeable that when a business-related crime is involved, litigators for both the prosecution and defense seek to examine and inspect all the pertinent records. In the digital age, those records may be as mobile as the enterprise that created them. Obtaining the records of an enterprise may be the initial focus of significant intense litigation, and the methodology for obtaining those records is the subject of this article.