11th Judicial District Judge Verity Gentry was notified recently that she has been chosen by the United States Secret Service to attend a Digital Evidence for Judges Course at the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) in Hoover, AL this fall.
Judge Gentry is one of only 25 judges nationally to be selected to take the class, which is specifically designed for state and local trial and appellate judges who handle criminal cases and have a basic level of understanding of digital evidence and its forensic process.
“Almost every crime in Sabine Parish includes a digital component,” Judge Gentry noted. “A deeper understanding of the various ways electronic communications, storage, use of social media, forensic artifacts, and other digital aspects relate to crime will help me preside more effectively over cases involving digital forensic evidence,” she said.
The five-day Digital Evidence for Judges course components include: Introduction to Cyber Crime and Computer Forensics
Computer Hardware Operating Systems and their Respective Forensic Artifacts Data Concepts Search and Seizure of Digital Evidence The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and Authorizing the Collection of Digital Evidence from Third Party Providers The Forensic Process Electronic Evidence Introduction to Networks and the Internet Social Media Evaluating Expert Testimony Fifth Amendment: Encryption and Passwords Judge Gentry was nominated for participation in the special course, then had to submit an application to be considered. From nationwide applications, a total of about two dozen judges from across the country made the Secret Service’s final selection.
The NCFI is a federally funded partnership between the United States Secret Service, Dept. of Homeland Security and the State of Alabama to train state and local law enforcement, prosecutors and judges in the areas of computer forensics and digital evidence at no cost to the participants.