Sam Spade and Snooping for Evidence
Back in the days before no-fault divorce, it was important to "get the goods" on the philandering spouse. Images of Sam Spade bursting into a room at the Notell Motel, flashbulb exploding, come to mind.
 www.humphreybogart.com | But those days are no more - or are they? A spouse's conduct can affect property division and what rights that spouse will have with respect to the children. Moreover, investigating a spouse can yield other important information unrelated to sexual misconduct - drug or alcohol abuse, criminal activity, gambling and the like. Locating a spouse at a specific point in time also can provide an alibi if that spouse is accused, for example, of assaulting the other spouse at that time. Although the days of Sam Spade are no more, other sources of information provide opportunities to "track" a spouse in different ways. These ways - some obvious, some not so obvious - include: |
- Credit card statements: These statements show where a person was, often show what sorts of things were purchased, and can allow estimates of how many people were there (as in restaurant receipts).
- Florists: It is amazing that men will use the same florist to send flowers to both their wives and their girlfriends.
- Cellphone records: Although a cellphone record cannot pinpoint a person's location, it can yield a wealth of information about who is calling and being called.
- Tolltag records: These records allow pinpointing of a person's location at a specific time - assuming, of course, that the car is bring driven by that person.
