Digital Forensics Dispatch

Blogger to Turn Over Cellphone and Laptop in Civil Case Re Police Lieutenant

September 2, 2021

According to a recent article in the Hartford Courant, a Connecticut Superior Court, Judge Cesar Noble, has ordered blogger Kevin Brookman to turn over his cellphone and laptop in a case brought by a Lieutenant in the Hartford Police Department.

Lt. Vincent Benvenuto plans to sue commenters on the blog run by Brookman, “We the People of Hartford”. He claims the commenters have harmed his reputation both personally and professionally. The comments included accusations of sleeping on the job, making threatening comments and even racism.

The order to turn over the devices is interesting as even Benvenuto’s digital forensic expert admits reviewing these devices is unlikely to provide identifying information about the offending comments. Apparently both the host of the blog, Google, and Bookman don’t have IP addresses of the commenters either. Instead the forensic expert hopes to search Brookman’s email for keywords from the comments to try to draw some link between the private communications and the comments on the blog.

This is not the only suit Brookman’s blog has gotten him involved in. Recently another member of the Hartford PD, Assistant Chief Rafael Medina, sued Brookman for a post that he claims defamed him.

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