There are two things an investigator can do to gain credibility in the courtroom. One is cross-validation of the tools used. It is vastly important that investigators do not rely on only one tool when investigating a cell phone. Both Reiber and Bunting adamantly recommend using multiple tools for cross-validation purposes. “By crosschecking data between tools, one may validate one tool using the other,” says Bunting. Doing so adds significant credibility to the evidence.

The second way to add credibility is to make sure the investigator has a solid understanding of the evidence and how it was gathered. Many of the investigations tools are simple to use and require only a couple clicks to generate a detailed report. Reiber warns against becoming a “point and click” investigator now that the tools are so easy to use. If an investigator takes the stand and is unable to speak intelligently about the technology used to gather the evidence, his credibility will be in question. Steve Bunting puts it like this, “The more knowledge one has of the tool’s function and the data structures and function found in any given cell device, the more credibility one will have as a witness.”

From: Mobile Phone Investigations: Best Practices by Evan Dixon