Foul Play with the Date Stamp

I am in the middle of a court battle with an "ex." He has submitted to the court pictures with date stamps that originally did not have date stamps. I know that his camera used to take the photos does not have the ability to date stamp. My question: Can someone analyze these photos for authenticity?

-- Anna DaSilva, Omaha, Nebraska

Let me start by saying in no uncertain terms that I am not a lawyer (or, as the kids say, IANAL) and can't dispense legal advice. But here's what I do know: It is ridiculously easy to add a date stamp to the corner of a photo with almost any photo editor; I certainly hope no court would consider some text printed on a digital photo to be persuasive evidence.

One thing you could follow up on is the photo's "Date Taken" metadata. Digital cameras record the date and time that photos are taken in the file itself, and it can be displayed in most photo editors, viewers, and organizing programs. The bad news is that this data isn't highly trustworthy, either: Not only does the Date Taken metadata depend upon the camera's clock being set accurately to begin with, but this metadata can be easily changed with free software as well.