3 Reasons Why it’s Important to Preserve Evidence in a Criminal Case

When you’re involved in a criminal case, it’s often hard to keep track of everything that’s going on. From police procedure to the arguments of the lawyers involved, there are many details that can quickly become confusing or even overwhelming. But when it comes to preserving evidence in criminal cases, you don’t want to miss any opportunities to do so. In this guide, Sydney defence lawyers suggests why it’s important to preserve evidence.

What Does Preserving Evidence Mean?

In criminal cases, preserving evidence can mean a lot of things, but generally it boils down to: documenting any and all potentially important information that could be useful later on. This includes both physical and digital materials such as emails, texts, photographs, videos and more. The moment a person is accused of a crime, they enter a state of limbo: still innocent until proven guilty. They have not been convicted, but even so, it may be in their best interest to preserve certain kinds of evidence that can prove their innocence.

Important Reasons to Preserve Evidence:

·         Establishes Defence Arguments:

By preserving evidence, Sydney defence lawyers will ensure that your client has every possible avenue to an acquittal. While all evidence discovered at a crime scene may be relevant in determining innocence or guilt, physical evidence is often more critical than witness testimony. The most important reason for preserving any and all potential physical evidence is to ensure that your client can challenge and effectively rebut any claims made by prosecution witnesses.

For example, suppose you are accused of robbing an electronics store. If you have video footage showing you buying items from another store around the time of the robbery, it could help establish an alibi for you.

·         For Exoneration Purposes:

In a criminal case, evidence is often used to determine what happened. If someone claims their innocence, there’s a good chance that preserving evidence could exonerate them.  For example, if you claim you were in another state at the time of a robbery, but investigators find your fingerprints on something at or near where it occurred, your story might not hold up in court. In fact, many cases are overturned because of DNA evidence found after an initial trial. This is one of the reasons why top criminal law firms Sydney suggest preserving evidence if you can.

·         Helpful for Future Legal Proceedings:

If there’s a chance that your evidence could be used for future legal proceedings, it’s in your best interest to preserve it. Even if there are no current plans to use evidence in court, you never know when that could change. If you can establish a chain of custody with witnesses and documentation, later on down the road you may be able to use it as valuable evidence.

The best criminal defence lawyer Sydney will tell you that evidence in criminal cases must be preserved from the moment you are even suspected of committing a crime. Remember that failure to preserve the evidence can result in dismissal of your case, or even wrongful conviction and imprisonment.