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Facebook Is Now Offering Alibis

NYC teen charged in robbery couldn't have done it, status update proves

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 12, 2009 9:57 AM CST

(Newser) – We’ve all read about bonehead criminals getting caught because of social networks, or people’s online lives coming back to haunt them in divorce proceedings—but can Facebook actually help you in court? The answer is yes, at least for one New York teen, who is free after he provided probably the first ever Facebook alibi. Rodney Bradford was picked up for a robbery in October. Unh-uh, he said. Look at my status update.

Sure enough, he was logged on to Facebook in a different borough typing something about pancakes—street slang, the New York Times adds, helpfully—at exactly the time the robbery was committed. His lawyer argued the point and got the charges dropped. Hold on, you say. Couldn’t someone else have logged in with his info to manufacture an alibi? “This implies a level of criminal genius that you would not expect from a young boy like this,” his lawyer counters. “He is not Dr. Evil.”

A sample home page featuring Facebook's new design.
A sample home page featuring Facebook's new design.   (AP Photo)
A Facebook update.
A Facebook update.   (Facebook)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
vissequ
Nov 13, 2009 9:27 AM CST
The prosecution probably had almost no evidence to begin with anyway.
Cailtach
Nov 12, 2009 10:25 AM CST
Just because you talk about crack doesn't mean you actually are in possession of it.
VanceLester
Nov 12, 2009 7:36 AM CST
Yeah, but isn't "pancakes" slang for crack? Now does he faces drug charges?

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