Watch those texts - they can be used against you.

A recent Ohio Court of Appeals decision held that it was permissible for the prosecution (in a murder case) to have a witness testify to "text messages" that the witness had sent and received from the defendant.   The defendant's lawyers argued that the only way a jury could get to see or hear this type of evidence is if the cell phone company had an employee "authenticate" the texts.  However, the Court ruled that the witness alone (without the phone company coming in to testify) was "sufficient" to authenticate the messages. So, what does this mean?   Be careful about what you send text message-wise.   Many phone companies save these messages for a sufficient period of time to allow the authorities or even civil litigants to get them in discovery - and the recipient can choose to save them indefinitely.  These messages can come back to haunt you.