How to retract a statement made via text?

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Mr A and Mrs B are engaged in a child custody issue.

Mrs B has used an email I have sent in the past against Mr B.

How can I state that I wish for this email to form no part of the custody battle, or to retract the contents of it?

Anyone with any experience?

You cant. If it was sent its evidence

I would have thought that once you sent the email to her then the email is technically hers to use. That is why it is always very wise to be careful what you used in writing.

Is what you said in the email stated as fact or is it offering an opinion?

Who are you to the situation?

In reality, you can't. You sent the email, and now it forms part of the evidence. The judge will decide if it's relevant.

@purplecorkheart it was informing her of something in the past. It was sent years ago and now she is using the contents against Mr A.

@Maddy70 It was not evidence for this case though. It was just something I shared with Mrs B

But if it's factual and relevant to the case?

You should consider any email you send as fully public, once you press the send button it could be seen by anyone. And if the person you sent it to wants to pass it on that's up to them.

If you were asked to comment you could say you changed your mind or you were just trying to be sympathetic or whatever other excuses for writing it.

Although I suppose if it's 'when he was 16 he got blitzed on vodka and merrydown and peed on a park bench', I don't think that could be used as lack of parenting ability....

You can't retract it.

If it is relevant to the case it can be used.

It doesn’t matter whether you intended it to be evidence or not, if it is relevant to the case then she can absolutely use that as a piece of evidence

If enough time has passed, far from helping her case it may hinder it! Judges do not like people bringing up things from earlier in their lives that is not relevant to the custody case now, however wayward in the past it simply isn't relevant if they are no longer wayward now

Was the thing you shared relating to Mr A?

@purplecorkheart it was

It really depends on what the facts are.

”Mr A stole a bar of chocolate from the corner shop and drank a bottle of wine age 15” yes, not relevant.

”Mr A was taking drugs and then driving to pick up the kids from school and drive them home”, relevant.

It’s all able to be given as evidence, the judge will decide whether it is relevant or how much weight to place on that piece of evidence.

Who are you in this situation?

A judge won't accept hearsay, which this may well be.

Is the statement true? That really is the crux of the issue. If it is relevant to the case then the judge may use it as part of his decision. Or are you worried about Mr A reaction?

Who is Mr B?

This is not heresay, its a genuine situation.

I am a friend of the person who sent the message who wants to know what they can do

There are lots of rules of evidence as to what can and cannot be introduced and relied upon in a court case. The parties can have a debate in court as to whether this particular piece of evidence can be introduced. They can also argue in front of the judge as to what a piece of evidence means. But there is nothing you can do to somehow refuse to allow a piece of evidence to be used or not. You do not have "ownership" of it in this context.

Thank you everyone it is clear that comment is out there and can be used as evidence.

The judge can decide

It is unfortunate, but this is why one must be so careful about anything put in writing. At my workplace we have a general understanding that anything we put in writing, be it email, text, slack message etc., if it is on a work system or piece of equipment, it could find itself part of a legal case. This is enhanced due to the nature of our work, but is a good rule of thumb, alas even in non-work situations these days.

If they want it to not be included the only thing they can do is invalidate it. In other words, send a follow up email/text stating it was untrue and 'sent as a joke', and cc Mr A. so if it's used, it will immediately be nullified by Mr A presenting the follow up message.

First, this would need to be true (OP does not say this is the case). Secondly, being apparently years after the original message, this would in essence be an attempt to introduce what really should be a witness statement without doing so and circumvent hearsay rules. OP would likely get further dragged in not less and the original piece of evidence would still be introduced.

So basically not a good idea.

Firstly, OP was not the message sender, she says it was her friend. Secondly, no one would be getting dragged in further than the original message caused them to be. The email as evidence would simply be rendered useless.

In all reality an email without the sender making a statement is absolutely hearsay, per another PP's comment, so I don't understand your logic that adding further context is "circumventing hearsay rules" - what do you mean by this? An email cannot be used as evidence in a meaningful way anyhow in the absence of witness testimony.

However, if the sender has already politely asked something not be used, and Mrs B is using it anyway, the best way - not necessarily most moral way - to prevent it being used is to nullify it.

Anyway, OP has not included any information about the contents of the email, so we don't know if it's about drug abuse or working hours or residential set-up. The follow up doesn't have to be full of nonsense, just clear it's not representative.

"Dear Mrs B, I understand you intend to use an email I sent on date ** as evidence in your upcoming custody proceedings. I retract this version of events. I am cc-ing Mr A so he can present this email to his solicitor in advance of any hearing."

What is the reason they was to retract it?

Is the statement untrue?
We're they coerced into sending it?
Has new information come to light that changes the statement?

Is it possible for a statement to be given to Mr B to go with their evidence?

Does an email need to be backed up with testimony for it to be admissible?