Portfolio Assignment – MSDF 630

Pick a computer technology that could be used to provide an alibi.  Explain two reasons why the evidence would be useful in court to support an accused version of the events surrounding a crime and one reason why the evidence should not be allowed in court. 

Mechanics:  This portfolio assignment has a target word length of 2,000-2,500 words, I will allow no more than 10% over this limit.  It must be in APA format.  Due to the length, an Abstract is not required.  The word count excludes the Title Page, Reference Section, and any appendices you may desire to add.  A minimum of 3 scholarly resources must be used.  To qualify as a scholarly resource, the resource must be a peer-reviewed article published in a journal in the field related to Digital Forensics. Any submissions with greater than a 30% similarity score will not be accepted for credit and will earn a zero.

Example framework:  Do NOT use this as your example for the assignment: 

A speed light camera could be used to show that the accused was actually located far away from the crime scene when the crime took place.  Speed light cameras are routinely used as evidence that a crime, i.e. speeding, took place, so it is obviously admissible as evidence in court.  The speed light cameras are calibrated on a regular basis to ensure the date-time stamps are correct and that the cameras are in good working order.

The resolution of a speed light camera is too low to actually prove who was in a speeding car, just that the car was speeding and that the license plates matched the vehicle in question.  Because the resolution is so low, the accused could have used an accomplice, perhaps disguised as the accused, to purposefully run a red light at the time of the crime to provide an alibi.