Reaching a Verdict on Footage from Home Security Systems in NJ Restraining Order and Domestic Violence Proceedings
With the increased availability and affordability of advanced technologies, home security cameras are becoming a popular tool to safeguard homes from crime. Camera footage of intruders helps solve crimes, but it also reveals what goes on inside a house, like domestic abuse. For better or worse, recordings of domestic violence may be helpful evidence in supporting or denying a domestic violence claim in New Jersey. A spouse who hits, pushes, or threatens their spouse or intimate partner appears on a recording camera, providing evidence of abuse. On the other hand, camera evidence can also help exonerate an individual falsely accused of domestic violence.
Security or Control? How Abusers Can Misuse Home Surveillance
While camera installations may make an abusive partner think twice about committing violence in the home, that may not always be the case. Those who commit violence may feel protected in the privacy of their home despite security cameras. Cameras may be useful tools for intimate violence victims but also the vehicle to commit abuse. Domestic violence typically includes an abuser’s excessive control over the victim. A spouse may control the abused by limiting their access to finances and social contacts outside the home. In that vein, a camera can serve the interests of the controlling perpetrator by surveilling the victim’s movements in and around the residence, even invading the victim’s privacy.
Moreover, a technologically savvy individual can manipulate camera footage to delete or otherwise distort it to make it appear that violence did or did not occur. In other words, they may manipulate the footage to their advantage. Another problem is that footage presented as evidence may not show the true context of what happens on film. For example, one party may present evidence of their spouse threatening to remove the children from the home and hide them. However, the footage may not reflect what occurred before the scene when that party threatened to harm the children.
Another risk associated with cameras is escalating violence. An abusive spouse, partner, or roommate may discover the cameras and harm their victim in a rage-fueled act of revenge. The cameras may provoke a volatile person.
Documented Truth of Domestic Violence in Home Security Footage
Recorded domestic violence acts can also help a victim prove in court the abuse occurred or is occurring. Typically, domestic violence cases are somewhat difficult to prove because witnesses rarely exist to corroborate a victim’s abuse allegations. Without evidence other than what the accuser and accused say, domestic violence may go unpunished. As such, camera footage can provide documented proof of violent actions. Violence that endangers another is essential evidence for a protective order. Proving that the alleged abuser is a danger to the victim, petitioning for a restraining order is necessary, and incriminating camera footage may provide evidence of violence warranting the protection.
When you are in a volatile relationship, you might consider the safety of installing cameras that the abuser can access, as they may alter or destroy recordings. Cameras can also provoke the abuser to harm you. However, when you can get video footage of the abuser committing assault or other violent acts against you, an attorney can use it as evidence supporting a restraining order or criminal charges against the abuser. Hiring an attorney to get crucial evidence admitted by a court saves you precious time you may lose by submitting the evidence in court without following the rules of evidence. Our experienced team of New Jersey domestic violence lawyers knows how to use camera footage in court, how to authenticate it and use it to support a protective order when your safety is in jeopardy.
Legal Standards for Home Security Camera Evidence in NJ Courts
A notable problem with camera footage is the complex relationship with New Jersey’s electronic surveillance laws, which apply when an individual uses audio or visual recordings without the consent or awareness of at least one party in the recording. New Jersey is a one-party consent state. The law (N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3) allows you to record your conversations, conversations others allow, and cross-border conversations with the consent of all participants (though other state laws may require two-party consent).
In other words, you cannot secretly record others’ conversations and use the recording as evidence. You need the minimum legally required consent. The idea behind the surveillance laws is that people expect privacy protection in certain places. So, recording someone in their bedroom or bathroom is a privacy violation. However, an expectation of privacy is unreasonable in a public place, where others can overhear or inadvertently record your conversation or actions.
As such, you can admit legally obtained camera footage as evidence of domestic violence in court so long as you can establish its authenticity and relevance. Authenticating evidence requires that you show the chain of custody from your specific camera to the footage presented in court. You could testify to the existence of your home security cameras by the particular model, date, time, and location of the cameras. You might also rely on witnesses or circumstantial evidence to verify its validity. Relevance depends on what you are trying to prove, for example, that an accused struck, threatened, or otherwise committed violence.
Home Security Camera Evidence and Domestic Violence: Lessons Learned from N.J. v. E.J.H.
Knowing what a court accepts as evidence is crucial. In the case of State of N.J. v. E.J.H., Irene, the wife of E.J.H., got a restraining order against her husband, who was ordered to keep a nesting camera on while he had visitation with his children. Soon after the restraining order was in place, E.J.H. looked into the camera and stated, “Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t nice to you. Good reason to keep my daughter from me for three months because I wasn’t nice to you.” He also flipped his middle finger at the camera.
Irene then filed charges for violating the restraining order. The court ruled in E.J.H.’s favor, stating that he did not knowingly violate the order as he expected privacy in his home regarding what he could and could not say. The Appellate Court, however, disagreed, noting that the husband’s direct address to his ex-wife in the camera violated the restraining order and that the husband could expect his wife to see and hear the words addressed to her in the camera.
Each case is fact-specific, so it is important to know the governing case and statutory law regarding audio and video recordings, evidence, and domestic violence before going to court as the plaintiff or the defendant in a restraining order case. The same is true about being prepared and enlisting legal counsel before appearing in criminal court on domestic violence charges.
Concerned about Using Home Security Camera Footage in Your Domestic Violence Case? Speak with a Lawyer Now
When you have home security camera evidence of domestic violence in New Jersey, consider consulting our experienced team of NJ domestic violence attorneys who can evaluate the footage and advise you about using it. With an understanding of evidentiary rules and authentication requirements, we can prepare, verify, and utilize the camera footage in court if possible. We can be particularly critical in using home security camera recordings as evidence of domestic violence for a restraining order petition. Our lawyers handle restraining orders in Atlantic, Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Essex, Somerset, and Union counties and throughout New Jersey on a weekly basis so we can ensure you have sufficient evidence to get a restraining order when you need it.
Condemning Evidence or a Path To Clearing Your Name Against Domestic Violence Accusations in NJ? Let Us Help
Conversely, when you need advice on how to defend against a restraining order and zealous representation in court, our attorneys can object to or otherwise challenge camera footage that is inadmissible. We can also strategize a defense to criminal charges underlying a domestic violence accusation. With our level of knowledge and insight into domestic violence cases in NJ, the attorneys at The Tormey Law Firm can represent your interests at a restraining order hearing and zealously challenge criminal charges. We can streamline the process and assist you in feeling confident during this otherwise stressful ordeal.
Whether you are the victim or the accused in a domestic violence matter, contact us at (908)-336-5008 to find out more about how we can assist you. The consultation is free, available 24/7, and completely confidential.