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Digital Images as Evidence

Digital Images as Evidence. Karl Harris Computer Science 99 Dartmouth College February 29, 2000. Introduction. Digital Image Enhancement is a process in which a digital image is enhanced so that more detail can be seen This process has many applications Entertainment such as movies and art

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Digital Images as Evidence

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  1. Digital Images as Evidence Karl Harris Computer Science 99 Dartmouth College February 29, 2000

  2. Introduction • Digital Image Enhancement is a process in which a digital image is enhanced so that more detail can be seen • This process has many applications • Entertainment such as movies and art • Law Enforcement • It is such a new technology that the legal system is struggling with how digitally enhanced images can be used as evidence

  3. Topics of Discussion • The Reginald Denny beating and trial • Cognitech, Inc.,and the future of digital image enhancement • Ethical and legal ramifications of this technology

  4. The Reginald Denny Case • On April 29, 1992, trucker Reginald Denny is severely beaten as he leaves his truck to help other victims during the LA Riots • Damian Williams and Henry Watson are charged with attempted murder • Because there are no clear photos and few witnesses, digital image enhancement is used by Cognitech to identify Williams as an assailant in the trial.

  5. The Sequence of Events • Sept. 11, 1993 • An enhanced image showing a cheek blemish and a stain on a T-shirt links Williams with a liquor store robbery and the beating • Sept. 15, 1993 • Cognitech enhances an image taken from a helicopter showing the beating. It shows a tattoo of a rose on William’s arm. • The jurors are allowed to see enlarged photos of the beating, but not the enhanced images

  6. The Sequence of Events • Sept. 16, 1993 • Judge Ouderkirk rules that Cognitech’s process to enhance the video is reliable enough to be used as evidence • Leonid Rudin, director of Cognitech, testifies that there is definitely something on the man in the photo’s arm and that it is consistent with Williams’ tattoo • When asked if he knew if the spot was grease, dirt, or a tattoo, he answers that he does not

  7. Cognitech and the Future • After the Denny Case, Cognitech’s top executives believed there could be a multi-billion dollar business in image enhancement for law enforcement • There are many applications • Video surveillance in convenience stores, parking garages, and ATM machines • Insurance claims • Acquittals

  8. What is the Law? • An “original” of a writing or recording is the writing or recording itself or any counterpart intended to have the same effect by a person executing or issuing it. An “original” of a photograph includes the negative or any print therefrom. If data are stored in a computer or similar device, any printout or other output readable by sight, shown to reflect the data accurately, is an “original” - Federal Rules of Evidence

  9. Ethical and Legal Implications • “Digitex” - digital, editing, and special effects used to manipulate images • With digitex, even experts will be unable to determine if images have been altered • Judges - exclude all photographic evidence? • New ethical situations: • Wrongful convictions or acquittals due to mistakes in the image enhancement • To what extreme do we go?

  10. What can be done? • Keep the source media intact showing the original directory with dates, files, sizes, and names generated by the camera • Find better ways of analyzing digital images to detect tampering • Make better and newer laws. Without a clear legal precedence the is no framework to start from.

  11. Summary • The Reginald Denny case brings into question the use of digitally enhanced images as evidence in court • The Federal Rules of Evidence say a digital image, enhanced or not, is just as good as a photograph from film • There are many dangers associated with admitting digital images as evidence in a trial

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