What people put on Facebook never ceases to amaze me . Now , the police are using Facebook to track down fugitive criminals .  A police department in Alabama recently posted a wanted poster on Facebook. In the Old West , the sheriff would post a wanted poster in the post office.  In this century ,we go to the Internet.They hoped to get some information of where the alleged rapist was hiding.

Guess who responded to the post first ? The man accused of the rape responded first Mr. Dustin McCombs. Jefferson County officials engaged Mr. McCombs about turning himself in to authorities. Mr. McCombs responded to the Facebook post after he was named "creep of the Week" on the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Facebook page. After a couple of days they caught up with Mr. McCombs in Ohio and arrested him for the rape charge . You can check out Buzzfeed for the screen shots of the conversation.

One interesting comment. Once formal charges are made,  a defendant has a right to remain silent and he or she can request a lawyer. Do Facebook messages count as police interrogation ? Should he have been Mirandized over the Facebook comments ?  The digital world is hard to keep up with in context of  the rights of the defendant.

McKinney’s Rules:

  •  Don’t give voluntary statements to police.
  • Don’t give statements on Facebook to police.
  • Don’t put your business on Facebook

Remember the whole world now has access. This case is now in the running for dumbest criminal of the year.