When facing criminal charges in Tennessee, you may wonder if you can use social media. You may already realize how precarious your situation is and are reluctant to put yourself in further jeopardy. As much as you would like to turn back the clock, you cannot. Now, you must do what you can to improve your chances of getting an acceptable outcome.
You should continue going to work or school and doing all of the everyday and legal things you normally do. However, there are a couple of exceptions that you should keep in mind that involve the use of social media when you have criminal charges pending against you.
Practice self-censorship
Everything you say and do in real life and online will be under close scrutiny. You should not joke, comment on or share anything related to the alleged crime. For example, if you are facing a DUI charge, you should not share, like or comment on anything that has to do with alcohol, reckless driving, wild parties or anything that can make you look like you have little to no self-control. You should also encourage your friends to not tag you in any comments or posts of that nature.
Be careful going forward
If you have old social media activity that messages that involve questionable or unlawful activities, there is not much you can do about them now. Going forward, be careful about your social and online activities. Though you can delete them, law enforcement and the prosecution may use forensic technology to recover deleted posts to use as evidence.
After a criminal arrest, get help from an experienced defense attorney as soon as possible. He or she can advise you concerning these and other matters.