The defendant appealed his conviction of first-degree murder and argued the Commonwealth failed to authenticate some text messages. He alleged the Commonwealth did not prove he authored the messages. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed. The Court reviewed a line of cases holding that “the authentication of text messages turns upon the depth of direct and circumstantial evidence of authorship marshaled by the proponent of the text messages.” While there was no direct testimony concerning the text messages in the defendant’s case, numerous circumstantial clues demonstrated the defendant sent them.
