An email printout is admissible in a Georgia divorce only if you can show the judge where it came from.
Emails Are Treated Like Any Other Writing
In Koules v. SP5 Atlantic Retail Ventures, LLC, 330 Ga. App. 282 (2014), the Court of Appeals confirmed that “there are no special rules under Georgia law governing the authentication of electronic documents or communications. Electronic records and e-mails are to be treated the same as ordinary writings.” Under OCGA 24-9-901(a), the only question is whether there is “evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.”
Circumstantial Evidence Is Enough
The trial court in Koules refused to consider a printed email because no witness had been deposed to authenticate it. That was reversed. The court should have weighed the appearance, contents, and substance of the printout, which carried the sender’s professional contact information and non-public business details, along with the fact that the opposing party had produced the document in discovery. But the Court of Appeals was careful to add that this “is not to say that a print-out of an e-mail is self-authenticating under Georgia law.”
An Email Address Alone Is Not Enough
In Hollie v. State, 298 Ga. App. 1 (2009), a defendant tried to impeach a witness with an email she denied writing and did not recognize. The only foundation offered was her email address. The Court of Appeals found no abuse of discretion in excluding it: “Though the e-mail transmission in question appears to have come from [her] e-mail address, this alone does not prove its genuineness.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!