Case gives good example of what not to say on one’s weblog.
On May 19, 2002, police in Henderson County, North Carolina investigated an incident where a rock had been thrown off an overpass damaging a rig traveling on Interstate 26. Earlier that day, Gerald Velardi had written in his weblog “I’m going to trash some s**t tonight, maybe my damage will be shown on the news.” Velardi was arrested for the crime of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and sentenced to no less than two years in prison.
At trial, the prosecutor brought up Velardi’s weblog during cross examination. On appeal, Velardi argued that this evidence was gathered as the result of an illegal search and seizure. The appellate court rejected this argument and denied relief to Velardi, as he had not properly raised any objection to the alleged illegal search and seizure at the trial court level.
State v Velardi, 2005 WL 757057 (N.C.App., April 5, 2005).