When Faceboooking takes another path

Copenhaver and his staff often rely on Facebook, MySpace and other sites when doing work for local divorce attorneys.

Ex-husband swears he's living paycheck to paycheck — not enough to shell out more money in child support.

But his Facebook page tells a different story.

After the July Fourth weekend, the Orlando man bragged online about his stay at an expensive South Florida hotel and even attached photos, Orlando private investigator James Copenhaver said.

Busted.

Facebook and other social networks, such as Twitter, Flickr, Photobucket and MySpace, are becoming the latest legal tool in divorce and child-support battles.

Attorneys and private investigators collecting background on a client's ex-spouse are trolling the websites as a quick and easy way to catch someone doing something they don't want brought up in court — snapshots of snuggling with a mistress, semi-nude photos with children nearby or drunken party pictures from a bar on a weekend a child is visiting.

"It's happening a lot," said attorney Mark O'Mara. "Pictures are the worst."

Orlando lawyer Diana Tennis remembered a case in which her client was fighting for more time with his child. Tennis came across a Facebook picture of the opposing parent's new boyfriend proudly posing with a gun he just purchased.

"It can be used as leverage," she said, adding that's not the image the opposing parent wanted to portray before a judge.

Florida is considered a "no-fault" divorce state, which means couples don't have to point to a specific reason — or person — for the split. But that doesn't mean dirt isn't tossed back and forth during discussions about alimony, child support and time spent with children.

"I think those pages are being printed and thrown around a courtroom quite a bit," said Tennis. Many say so far they use it more in negotiations than in evidence submitted in court.

Orange Circuit Court Judge Lisa Munyon, who is the administrative judge for family court, said she has seen some Facebook pages presented in court, but "it's not an overwhelming number."

She mentioned one case in which an attorney submitted a father's Facebook page, showing how he bragged about how much money he made. The lawyer used this to help prove he earned more money than he admitted in court.

So far no major legal issues have come up, but Munyon said there is potential. Attorneys have to prove the information actually came from the accused parent and is accurate.

Earlier this year, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers released a survey of divorce attorneys across the country and found 81 percent reported an increase in using social-networking evidence in the past five years.

"There isn't any good lawyer that doesn't utilize access to social media," said Terry Young, an attorney with the Central Florida-based firm Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A.

Local attorneys say turning to Facebook, MySpace and other networks picked up pace within the past year and half.

"I think divorce attorneys are learning about it," O'Mara said. "There's still a learning curve."

About four months ago, he made checking social networks — seven different sites — as part of his staff's usual background work.

"It's just invaluable," he said. "In most cases, we find something useful on one of these networks that help our client's cause."

Sometimes, he said, an opposing spouse blocks the ex-husband or ex-wife from the Facebook account. That's when investigators look for a friend or relative who is still Facebook friends with the person to gain access. His staff also has fake Facebook accounts and requests to be a friend.

"People are smart — but not that smart," Copenhaver joked.

Sarah Lundy can be reached at slundy@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6218. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/OSsarahlundy and read her blog at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/techblog