Defendant’s Shared Facebook Content Denied Fourth Amendment Protection

A criminal defendant who allowed his Facebook contacts to see his list of Facebook friends and comments he posted on his page lacked any reasonable expectation of privacy in the messages he wrote there, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Aug. 10 (United States v. Meregildo, S.D.N.Y., 1:11-cr-00576, 8/10/12).

Judge William H. Pauley denied defendant Melvin Colon’s motion to suppress evidence that law enforcement obtained from a cooperating witness, who had access to the page as the defendant’s Facebook friend.

When a social media user disseminates postings to the public, the messages ...