Technology is changing at a rapid pace, and so is digital crime.

 

Two attorneys from the Sherburne County Attorneys Office have undergone training to help prosecute criminals who commit offenses using newer technology.

Dawn Nyhus,  who has been with Sherburne County since 2008, took a special week-long course in Alabama offered by the National Computer Forensic Institute back in 2015 

 

“It’s a federally-funded program for local and state law enforcement, prosecutors and judges to provide training on how to investigate and prosecute digital-related offenses,” says Nyhus.

 

The program is coordinated by the Secret Service, Dept. of Homeland Security and the State of Alabama.

 

Nyhus handles cases involving felonies, gross misdemeanors, criminal sexual conduct, welfare fraud and child pornography.

 

Attorney George Kennedy, who attended a similar course in July, has been with the county since June, 2017. He also handles felony and gross misdemeanor cases, but his caseload is mainly property crimes.

 

Kennedy says the more recent course is a bit different from the course Nyhus took three years ago.

 

“That course (2015) was more focused on computers. Now we’re seeing much more crime with smart phones or other devices,” he says. “We had one day of computer training. The rest focused on cell phones, tablets and more portable devices.”

 

Those who attend the course learn about the different types of technology and how it is used in criminal activity.

 

“The recurring refrain when I was going through the course is that there’s a digital component to every case. Even if it’s just location information, there’s something you might be able to use in a prosecution that’s coming off a device,” says Kennedy.

 

“It’s not just storing illicit materials or sending messages that are threatening. With something as ordinary as a DWI, digital information might end up being the key to proving or disproving what was going on.”

 

“If someone is using their cell phone, or even if they’re not using their cell phone but it’s on and they have it with them, you can determine where someone is and establish timelines,” says Nyhus. “Those can be critical in any type of case.” 

 

Digital evidence is a part of almost every case now. That’s why it’s important for law enforcement and prosecutors to be up to date on technology.

 

“I think it’s moving towards the point where everybody has some understanding, just because we’re starting to see more and more in cases,” says Kennedy, “and we’re starting to see the U.S. Supreme Court make decisions on how the Constitution applies to those pieces of evidence.”

 

Nyhus says law enforcement has learned how to capture information that can be used by prosecutors.

 

“It’s important to know that data is always out there, that it doesn’t necessarily go away,” she says. “You just have to know how to look for it.”

 

That’s when prosecutors need to know how to use the data in court to make their case. Sometimes it’s a screen shot of a text conversation, or data that comes out of a file an examiner explains while he or she is testifying.

 

“We want to be very visual for the jury and we want to make it as simple as possible,” says Nyhus. “It’s about how we admit evidence and present it - how do we help people understand what it means in layman’s terms.” 

 

And in the future, all prosecutors will likely have a good understanding of how to use digital evidence in a case.

 

“All prosecutors should be digital prosecutors in some respect because the ways people are committing offenses happen through social media -through applications. They happen through the internet. It doesn’t matter if it’s a person crime or a property crime,” says Nyhus. “It’s important for us to keep up to date with that - to understand it so we can better present that kind of evidence before a jury.”