Utilizing e-discovery and advanced analytics on new data repositories like social media is becoming the norm in Big Law and large corporate legal departments handling civil matters. But this isn't so much the case in public defenders' offices, many of which are usually outmatched by prosecutors' access to digital forensics software while a client's freedom hangs in the balance.

"I know most offices are just not capable of purchasing the software or hiring experts," said New York State Defenders Association executive director Susan Bryant. "It puts clients at a disadvantage when they are facing a loss of liberty and criminal charges."

An article in The New York Times reported that the New York City Legal Aid Society and the Defender Association of Philadelphia are the only public defense offices that have an in-house digital forensics team. Only a "handful" of public defender offices have purchased data extraction tools or have an internal expert, according to the article.

To be sure, public defenders' clients have the smartphones and social media accounts that can leave a plentiful digital trail that could help or hinder the defense's case.

"Over the past few decades, technology has exploded, with law enforcement consistently getting the first crack at new resources, often from the federal government, with prosecutors and the judiciary getting the next level of new resources," wrote National Association for Public Defense executive director Ernie Lewis in an email.

Yet budget restraints and lacking state funding prevents most public defense offices from splurging and developing a dedicated tech forensics team, Lewis added.

"Public defense nationwide is underfunded, resulting in many if not most offices having excessive workloads/caseloads. When you have too many cases, seldom would an organization place technological needs in front of hiring additional staff to avoid unethical levels of work," he said.

Budgets can also curtail the ability to bring aboard ad hoc expert services, Bryant noted.

"I think that the issue is not only having the technology, but having the expertise in order to use it appropriately, and a lot of offices don't have funding to either obtain in-house expertise or find experts in the field that can work with them," she said. "It's not just enough to have the technology, but it's also having the expertise to understand the results and what you are looking at."

For the public defender offices that can afford ad hoc digital forensic services, it's used sparingly for high-profile cases or when the lawyer determines such data is relevant to a case, observers said.

Meanwhile, offices with on-site forensic teams can access software and experts quickly to examine clients' or witnesses' electronics or social media. Philadelphia's defender office, for example, has the insights of Louis Cinquanto, founder and owner of digital forensics, e-discovery and litigation support company Cornerstone Discovery.

Cinquanto joined the defender's office full time as IT director in April. He said he manages the office's day-to-day IT while building its digital forensics team and providing trial support and digital forensic services.

To be sure, many public defenders aren't even aware of computer forensic tools and its potential impact on a case, said Jules Epstein, a Temple University Beasley School of Law professor and director of its advocacy programs.

"There's no organized system that sends out an alert and says: 'These top 10 technologies to help public defenders in criminal defense,'" Epstein said. "In general, science and technology are not the strengths of lawyers, and it's taken a while for public defender offices to even realize we need a dedicated forensic person, someone that understands drug analysis and DNA," he added.