Motata trial told digital data easily manipulated

'Digital data can often be seamlessly changed without any losses being apparent,' said Unisa criminal law professor Daniel Petrus van der Merwe, according to a report on the IoL site. A trial within a trial is under way to determine the admissibility of five cellphone recordings taken on the night of the January 6, 2007. This was when Motata allegedly crashed his Jaguar into the wall of a Hurlingham property during an apparent drunken driving incident. Referring to digital data such as the cellphone recordings, Van der Merwe said digital guarantees of authenticity would be needed. The memory card on which the recordings were made has been lost. 'I would like to emphasise the ease with which changes can be made to digital data. It doesn't require special training,' said Van der Merwe. However, according to a Beeld report, neither Van der Merwe, nor another expert, Willem de Jongh, were able to say whether the recordings in question had been manipulated. Full report on the IoL site Full Beeld report