Unauthenticated text messages may not be admitted as evidence in trial, the state Superior Court has ruled, adding to the state’s body of case law regarding the evidentiary boundaries of electronic communications.

In granting a new trial to defendant Amy N. Koch, a unanimous three-judge panel found there was no evidence showing Koch wrote the drug-related text messages police found on her phone. The court also decided the texts constituted inadmissable hearsay.