Video: A warning before you send that e-mail

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SEATTLE – Federal Judge Marsha Pechman will decide next Wednesday whether the Seattle SuperSonics will stay in Seattle for the next two years.

One of the things she may take a hard look at before ruling is the e-mail evidence, which has been pivotal in the KeyArena lease case.

Now, some are warning such evidence is a sign of things to come.

When Sonics Owner Clay Bennett sat down and wrote his now infamous "I am a man possessed" e-mail, or when Wally Walker wrote about making it "too expensive and too litigious" for Sonics ownership, neither one probably ever thought the e-mails would end up in court.

"It's second nature to fire off an e-mail and I think people have a false sense of security," says trial laywer Jessie Harris. "Using emails in civil cases particularly is becoming more common than it was."

Harris says he's used the written communication to help a client in a sex harassment suit. Work and personal e-mail accounts have been used in employment, injury and malpractice cases to provide a paper trail.

"They are written correspondence. As long as the e-mails are to be deemed to relate to the issue to the case or controversy, presumably, they might be admissible," says Harris.

"You have to think before you write," says public relations consultant Steve Boyer. "Anything you write or send as e-mail, once that happens, you lose control. It can go to blogs. It can go to Web sites. Lots of other places you never intended."

Both men agree the Sonics case should change perceptions – that e-mail can come back to haunt you no matter how innocuous you think the note may be.

"Think about that e-mail before you push the send button. If correspondence is of a nature where you can pick up the phone, pick up the phone and call someone," says Harris.

Judge Pechman noted former Sen. Slade Gorton held a secret meeting with the NBA last fall and then e-mailed the potential investor group led by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer the next day. The action appeared to violate a confidentiality agreement.

Judge Pechman will make her ruling at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 2. Be sure to log on to KING5.com and NWCN.com for the ruling when it comes down.