hi,

Can someone tell me what the legal requirements are for captured video, as being admissable as court evidence ?

What is acceptable and what would be thrown out ?

I have heard that these are criteria:
1. minimum 3 FPS
2. must be in dvr proprietary format
(for example .AVI is _not_ valid since it is too easily modified)

what about a timestamp? is that required ?
and resolution, is there any requirement ?

is watermarking mandatory ?

what else ??

It depends on the court. As far as I know, no digital video evidence has ever been thrown out of court... yet. A good defense lawyer could challenge any video evidence and it is always possible that they would be successful under any circumstance.

Also, as far as I know, there are no specific evidence criteria in the U.S. regarding format, frame rates, time stamps, resolution or any other variable. Common sense seems to apply here. The images need to be able to show what happened without ambiguity. All of the above factors then come into play.

Watermarking itself is not a necessity; there are other methods of proving that the digital recording has not been tampered with. But it is good practice to have some method of proving that the video has not been tampered with, just in case.

thanks. that does make sense, depends on the case, and the legal wrangling that occurs.

people tell me different things, it just seems like either they really don't know and are blowing smoke...

This one company was telling me that proprietary video format and 3 FPS min were required. Then another company was saying that watermarks are required.

I would assume the more bullet proof that your video is with these features would make it less susceptible to being thrown out.

As survtech stated (in the US) courts/Judges can differ and argue as to what is admissible yet the successful processing of video images must pass four basic legal tests: Reliability, Reproducibility, Security, and Discovery noted in this document:http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/jan2003/swgitdigital.htm The older standards on VCR/Tape and (SWGIT)Definitions/Guidelines differ by method be it Digital or Tape but the four basic principles remain.

The only thing I can add to what has been stated is.
1.What is the state law? (Do signs have to be posted, Does the system have to be installed by a licenesed Company Installer, also our state has area's of privancy bath rooms, dressing rooms, bedrooms, ect.

As long as you are not trying to get a shoplifter stealing in the dressing room you should be ok. Or a wife with boyfriend in the bedroom you should be ok.

Other wise you might be charged invasion of privacy for installing the equipment.