Most criminal cases are built on two things: physical evidence seized through a search and witness testimony. If you want to build an effective criminal defense, then you have to know how to handle both of these aspects of the prosecution’s case. If you don’t, then you could wind up facing an otherwise avoidable conviction. In this post, we want to focus on the physical evidence piece of a criminal case and what you can do to not only attack the prosecution’s use of this evidence, but also how you might be able block it from being used against you.
How the police commit errors in conducting searches
When analyzing the physical evidence in your case, your first step should be to assess the search that led to the evidence’s seizure. Although prosecutors may present the evidence collection process as nothing more than standard, the truth is that the police frequently commit error when conducting searches. Here are some of the mistakes that they make and that you might be able to exploit to your advantage in your criminal case:
- Relying on an improperly secured warrant: Generally, the police should have a warrant before conducting a search. But if the facts conveyed to the judge to secure the warrant were false or misconstrued, then the warrant has been illegally obtained and is therefore invalid. So, analyze the information that was used to obtain the warrant in question to determine whether it’s vulnerable to attack.
- Going beyond the scope of the warrant: Even when a warrant is legally obtained, the police can still violate your rights by conducting a search that exceeds the bounds of the search that’s been warranted. Review your copy of the warrant closely to see if the police abused their authority by going outside the bounds of what was allowed by the judge.
- Misapplying a warrant exception: In some instances, the police can conduct a search without a warrant. To do so, though, they have to have articulable facts that justify utilizing one of many exceptions to the warrant requirement. These exceptions include seizing evidence that’s in plain sight, conducting a search subsequent to an arrest and conducting a search under exigent circumstances. If you can show that the police abused their power in relying upon one of these or another exception to the warrant requirement, then you may be able to successfully argue that your Constitutional rights were violated and the evidence against you was illegally obtained.
- Mishandling evidence collection: Before a proposed exhibit can be submitted into evidence against you at trial, the prosecution has to provide reasonable assurances that the evidence is what they claim it to be. But if the police mishandled evidence collection in a way that compromises its integrity, then you’ll be positioned to argue that the prosecution is unable to adequately provide those assurances.
Can you suppress evidence in your criminal case?
If any of these issues are present in your criminal case, then you might be able to block the prosecution from using the physical evidence in question against you. This can devastate the prosecution’s case, thereby leaving you in a strong position to obtain a favorable outcome. This means you could escape conviction and the harsh penalties associated with it, allowing you to get back to your normal life and put this dark chapter behind you. To learn more about other criminal defense strategies that you may be able to use to your advantage, continue browsing our website.