Everything You Emote Can and Will Be Used Against You
Interpreting someone else’s emotional affect is more difficult than it looks. How many times have you understood someone’s words but misinterpreted the person’s facial expression or vocal intonation? The emotional expressiveness of witnesses can influence jurors’ votes; only 12 people know exactly what happens in each deliberation room, but it stands to reason that some jurors must have assumed that a witness was lying because the witness seemed too calm or, by contrast, too nervous. Never mind that everyone is nervous on the witness stand, since testifying in court is a terrifying experience, and that some people’s nervousness looks like calm. Now try interpreting an emoji and basing your decision about someone’s innocence or guilt in a criminal case on it. People communicate on messaging apps all the time, and it only makes sense to use text messages as evidence in criminal cases when they seem to refer to the alleged crime or, if applicable, to the defendant’s alibi. What happens when the text messages that support the prosecution’s claims or cast doubt on them are full of emojis? Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains recent cases where emojis transmitted by text message have been key pieces of evidence in the prosecution’s case.
A Romantic Date With Alina
Every Millennial knows what “friends with benefits” means, and earlier this year, a woman named Alina posted an advertisement online advertising exactly this type of friendship. An undercover police officer responded to the ad, and Alina told him that, if things got beyond the discussion stage, he would have to pay her $1,000 per hour. Alina and the officer met at the bar of the Brazilian Court hotel on Palm Beach Island, where they discussed consent to sexual acts and how many hours they would spend together at the $1,000 per hour rate. While they were at the bar together, and Alina seemed ready to go upstairs to a hotel room with the officer, he showed his badge, and other officers arrived to arrest her. Now she is facing charges for offering commercial sex.
One piece of evidence the prosecution plans to use in its case is the red rose emojis Alina included in some of her text messages to the undercover officer. Prosecutors allege that the red rose emoji is a code for commercial sex. To cast doubt on this allegation Alina has several possible defenses at her disposal. One is the “geriatric Millennial” defense. She is 39 years old, and perhaps younger sex workers ply their trade by texting red rose emojis to prospective clients, but you know old folks and text messages. How many teenagers have been embarrassed when their 39-year-old mothers texted a skull emoji to mean “death,” “pirate ship,” or similar, or when they read the wrong emotion into the smiley with the tears of laughter, or when they mixed up the puke smiley and the “mad money” smiley? The other is the “get your mind out of the gutter” defense. If Sigmund Freud could argue that sometimes a cigar is only a cigar, then certainly Alina can argue that sometimes a rose is just a rose. Maybe she just wanted her text messages to look pretty.
An Ice Cream Date With Tina
If the news headlines are to be believed, then Florida Man does quite a few nonsensical and counterproductive things. There was the time that Florida Man dove into a pool of crocodiles at a zoo because he had dropped his phone in the pool the last time he went swimming with the crocs. That is understandable by Florida logic, but why would anyone, even in Florida, go on Grindr if he wanted a date with someone called Tina?
Police in Polk County have made a series of arrests of people that they suspect of using dating apps such as Grindr and Scruff to buy and sell methamphetamine, in an operation they call “Swipe Left for Meth.” The officers are interpreting the name “Tina” as a code name for methamphetamine, much as, in the days of landline phones, people who wanted to buy weed would call their drug buddies’ houses and ask to speak to Jimi or Buddy. They are also counting ice cream and birthday cake emojis as methamphetamine references. Defendants can presumably argue that they simply smoked weed and went on the dating apps in search of love, and that the sweet treat emojis were only there because they had the munchies.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you defend yourself against criminal charges based on flimsy evidence such as ambiguous emojis. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Sources:
cbs12.com/newsletter-daily/woman-arrested-for-4k-friends-with-benefits-offer-at-luxury-palm-beach-hotel-brazilian-court-hotel-florida-palm-beach-hotel-prostitution-crime-florida-woman-april-18-2025
cbsnews.com/miami/news/swipe-left-for-meth-florida-sheriffs-investigation-found-dating-apps-used-to-sell-meth-cocaine-lsd/
