How Do I Determine Evidence for a Title IX Investigation?

If you or your child has been accused of sexual misconduct in a campus environment, you will become involved in a complex process to clear your name and record.

One of your most important tasks will be to gather evidence and witnesses for the Title IX investigation and potential hearing. The hearing will take place before a senior officer or a panel of faculty and administrators who will determine your guilt or innocence.

Evidence can include any material that tends to prove the probability or unlikelihood of the facts alleged by the accuser. This can include, among other things, witnesses, documents, emails, texts, social media posts, photographs, video footage, and call logs. Any information about acts, statements, or omissions made by the accuser either during or after the alleged events can be relevant to the truth or falsity of the claim.

The school should promptly give you a copy of the accuser’s complaint. Read it carefully for the allegations and look for evidence consistent or inconsistent with the complainant’s version of the facts. Even small differences such as the timeline or location can go to credibility. Keep this in mind when seeking evidence and preparing your case.

Types of Potential Evidence You Should Examine

You will need to promptly look at different sources of media evidence before they are deleted or overridden. Preserve any communications you exchanged with the accuser via Facebook messenger, Twitter, Instagram messages, and other social media accounts as well as for any people who may have been present at the time in question.  

Check for any text messages or emails from the accuser and check your own phone records as well. Did you or anyone else video record any part of the time period in question? Video recordings can contradict accuser claims of  incapacitation with regard to consent or other allegations. 

Developing a timeline is very important. Use texts and photo timestamps to recreate your timeline around the alleged incident. Campus security may provide key swipe timestamps for entering and exiting buildings and security video as well.  You can also provide Google maps to show distances traveled on the date of the alleged events.

The Need for a Title IX Defense Attorney

A Title IX defense attorney is skilled at seeking and extrapolating evidence. The earlier you retain such an attorney, the greater the likelihood that critical evidence supporting your position will be uncovered. A Title IX attorney will also help you with presenting evidence and developing your best arguments consistent with all the evidence.

Our attorneys are Title IX defense specialists and we have helped hundreds of accused students across the country who have been treated unfairly by their schools. Call us at 212-736-4500 or contact us as soon as a complaint is filed and we will be there aggressively protecting your rights, ensuring a fundamentally fair process, or establishing the deficiencies that will lead a court to reverse the school’s adverse findings. There is no fee for a private consultation.

Because of differences in school procedures and individual actions, this blog does not constitute the provision of legal advice but is for information purposes only.