Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence: Federal Court May Take Judicial Notice of Another Court’s Website As Well As Public Records and Government Documents Available from Reliable Sources on the Internet

Flores v. Smith, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67059 (E.D. Mich. May 3, 2017):

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Petitioner pled guilty [*2]  to forgery in the Lenawee Circuit Court in 2013. He was sentenced as indicated above on October 4, 2013. According to the allegations in the petition, and as confirmed by the Michigan One Court of Justice website, Petitioner's direct appeal ended in the state courts when the Michigan Supreme Court denied his application for leave to appeal on December 23, 2015. People v. Flores, No. 150876 (Mich. Sup. Ct. Dec. 23, 2015).2 Petitioner acknowledges in his petition that he has never sought post-conviction review in the state courts following his direct appeal, and he did not present any of his habeas claims to the state courts on direct review. See Dkt. 1, ¶¶ 12(c) and (d).

2   See coa.courts.mi.gov/. Public records and government documents, including those available from reliable sources on the Internet, are subject to judicial notice. See United States ex. rel. Dingle v. BioPort Corp., 270 F. Supp. 2d 968, 972 (W.D. Mich. 2003). A federal district court is also permitted to take judicial notice of another court's website. See, e.g., Graham v. Smith, 292 F. Supp. 2d 153, 155 n.2 (D. Me. 2003).

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