The Evidentiary Value of Digital Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
Does a screenshot serve as evidence in a criminal trial?
The Constitutional Chamber established through Ruling No. 937 dated October 7, 2026, that WhatsApp messages and other messaging platforms have full evidentiary value in criminal proceedings. However, for such elements to acquire legal efficacy, strict compliance with technical and scientific methods in their acquisition is indispensable, as these are the only methods capable of guaranteeing the authenticity, integrity, and unalterability of digital evidence under chain of custody protocols.
Without proper preservation, information loses its technical value and ceases to be unalterable. In criminal matters, details make the difference between key evidence and absolute nullity.
Key points of Ruling No. 937
- Invalidity of manual screenshots: Screenshots and simple email chat exports omit the use of specialized software such as Móvil Edit and violate the Single Chain of Custody Manual.
- Guarantee of unalterability or Hash Code: Forensic cloning of the device and the generation of algorithms or Hash codes are essential to certify the integrity and authenticity of the messages.
- Legality of evidence based on Article 225 of the COPP: Judges must dismiss computer evidence that from its origin violates criminalistic protocols, as it is vitiated by absolute nullity.
Excerpt from the ruling
“From the results of the oral and public debate, and specifically from the depositions of the experts (Second Sergeant Edimir Jiménez and Sergeant Francisco Colina Mendoza), it was demonstrated that the extractions from the WhatsApp application (Expertises Nos. 1529-23, 1530-23, 1531-23, 1532-23, and 082-23) were carried out using a manual method, consisting of screenshots and email chat exports, omitting the use of the available forensic extraction system (Móvil Edit). This practice flagrantly disregarded the guidelines of Section VI on computer forensics. From the specific guidelines of computer forensics. From the Protocol Annex to the Single Chain of Custody Manual for Physical Evidence, making it impossible to clone the device and generate the algorithms or Hash codes, which are essential to certify the unalterability, authenticity, and integrity of the digital evidence; furthermore, the absence of signatures, institutional seals, and expert conclusions in said records was verified.
In view of such flaws, the evidentiary dismissal decreed by the Trial Court did not constitute an illogical act, but rather the materialization of the mandate provided in Article 225 of the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the legality of evidence. In this regard, this Constitutional Chamber must state that digital evidence, such as data messages from the WhatsApp application or any other messaging platform, holds full evidentiary value in criminal proceedings, establishing itself in many cases as fundamental evidence for the resolution of the controversy; however, for such elements to acquire legal efficacy, it is essential to strictly observe the correct technical and scientific method for obtaining such data, the only mechanism capable of keeping the information to be assessed in the trial phase unscathed and unalterable. Additionally, it is a legal nonsense for the aforementioned Court of Appeals to demand that a trial judge evaluate the substance or content of evidence that, from its genesis, is vitiated by nullity for violating criminalistic protocols aimed at safeguarding due process.”
