I've heard people ask recently if a personal diary can be used as evidence in a court proceeding? Well, guess what. It can! And, if the opportunity presents itself, it will! Although people keep diaries and journals for various reasons, nearly all authors intend for them to remain private. That, after all, is the allure to "telling all." If no one but the owner ever reads it, the owner has no handicap on what he or she may choose to commit to writing. That's not the case in writing a blog, for example, where everything you commit to "paper" can eventually be read by someone else--and possibly many someone "elses."
But a diary is sacrosanct. Or, at least, so most people think. In truth, a diary or anything else you write for that matter can be used as evidence in a court of law. That doesn't mean it will be, and it doesn't mean that anyone can call upon you for any reason to deliver your diary as evidence in a trial. The diary must be relative to the case, and its entrance as evidence has to be approved by both attorneys and/or the judge. It must also have been obtained legally, meaning that your rights weren't violated through illegal search and seizure. Read More