A. Prosecution

When video evidence is approved for use in court, it can be a vital piece of a case. However, good video evidence may be passed up due to its quality. Those videos should not be discarded, as digital forensics experts have the ability to enhance the videos and potentially extract key evidence for a case.

Let’s take a theoretical theft case for example. The plaintiff is accusing the defendant of repeated package theft from their front doorstep. Most of their evidence is circumstantial, so if a crime was committed, the plaintiff needs harder evidence. The plaintiff’s team notices that the plaintiff has a smart doorbell camera on their doorstep. The device is submitted as evidence, and digital forensics experts perform a physical extraction. The video evidence is grainy, and not well focused. A person is seen stealing packages on multiple occasions, but it is hard to see the person’s face. Digital forensics experts take the found video footage and enhance it to play slower, more clearly, and focus on the individual’s face. With the enhancements, it is clear that the individual is, in fact, the defendant. This evidence is used to further build the plaintiff’s case against the defendant for theft.

B. Defense

Video evidence may also prove to be exculpatory to a defendant when enhanced. For example, think about a defendant who was accused of robbing a convenience store. The video evidence in the store never shows the face of the individual robbing the store and there are no found cameras in the area outside of the store to film the individual leaving. The defendant says they were at a coffee shop at the time of the robbery, but they did have any solid witnesses, nor did they bring their phone or any devices that could confirm their location. The defendant’s team surveys the area where the coffee shop is located, and notices a CCTV camera down the street, pointed near the coffee shop. They obtain the footage from the date and time of the robbery and find that most of the footage is far away and difficult to see clear images of people. However, digital forensics experts are able to enhance the video and identify the defendant leaving the coffee shop during the time of the robbery. Nowadays, cameras are located everywhere, making video evidence appear much more frequently in cases. But when video evidence may seem to be unusable, enhancement could turn it into key, exculpatory evidence.