Criminal Evidence
Evidence is information offered in court to prove or disprove a fact and to show that a crime was committed. It is shown in court as an item of proof, to impeach or rehabilitate a witness, and to determine a sentence. Evidence can come in the form of weapons, documents, pictures, tape recordings, or exhibits. There are four different types of physical evidence that are considered in court. The first are the fruits of the crime, which is what the suspect gets out of the crime. The instrumentalities of the crime are the means by which the defendant actually committed the crime, such as by a gun, knife, or crowbar. The third type of physical evidence is contraband, which is a crime by possession. Mere Evidence is any other type of physical evidence. Two other types of evidence are direct and circumstantial. Direct evidence proves a fact directly, and often comes from eyewitnesses. Circumstantial evidence requires the court to make an inference or assumption about the case. Evidence offered in court must be competent. It is considered incompetent if offered by an incompetent witness, obtained in violation of constitutional provisions, or if it is not properly prepared and safeguarded through the chain of custody.
Once the evidence leaves the scene of a crime it goes to a crime lab for further analyzing. Each item that is brought into the crime lab is assigned a number, starting with the first piece received. Crime technicians use several types of chemicals and machinery to gain as much knowledge from each piece of evidence as possible. DNA, blood and other body fluids, skin cells, hair fibers, and fingerprints are looked at closely to determine a possible 'person match'. So not to disrupt the chain of evidence, crime labs are typically set apart from other official buildings and are secure. It is important that criminals cannot find a way to get access to their evidence as it is being processed. Evidence may then be released and received by detectives, and police officers for further investigation. Crime Scene Investigators and Crime Lab Technicians are often called on to testify on the chain of evidence for a specific case. Evidence collection begins shortly after a crime has been committed. Police officers are responsible for securing the crime scene and keeping evidence from being destroyed. Once an evidence team arrives, they carefully mark each piece of evidence, measure it, and photograph everything. This is where the chain of evidence begins. Everything that is able to be collected from the scene is placed into sealed packages and tagged with information such as: the type of case, date, location of collection, item description, police case number, a serial number or garment identifier, the collectors name and identifier information, and where the item is being routed for analysis. Chain of custody forms are often found on the back of the packages, each person who handles the package must then sign their name, date it, and put the reason for having it. The book Hidden Evidence by David Owen explains that "in most cases, the initial search reveals the most important details [of the crime]." to the book Hard Evidence by David Fisher, "the chain of
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