How a Strong Criminal Defense Lawyer Analyzes and Challenges Evidence
For a judge to convict you of criminal charges, the prosecution must have strong evidence that directly ties you to the alleged crime. The burden of proof is on the prosecution in criminal cases, meaning your criminal defense lawyer’s main job is to challenge and weaken the prosecutor’s evidence.
Criminal defense lawyers use several different strategies to analyze and challenge evidence, helping to weaken the case against you.
Challenge the Chain of Custody
The chain of custody is the various hands evidence passes through between when a person collects it and when the prosecutor presents it in court. During this time, many events can happen to disturb the evidence.
Perhaps someone who handled the evidence failed to document, store, or label it correctly. Maybe the evidence has changed in some way between when it was first collected and now. Or maybe there is a missing link in the chain of custody that no one in the prosecution can explain. Your criminal defense lawyer can use any of these possibilities as part of your legal strategy.
Dispute Expert Testimony
The prosecution may bring in “experts” to testify about the facts in your case, showing how certain evidence points to you. For example, maybe they call a forensic expert to explain how fingerprints at the scene would be consistent with your presence at the scene.
But just because someone is an “expert” doesn’t mean their testimony is fact. Your attorney can challenge their testimony by bringing in their own expert witness to dispute those claims. When it’s one person’s word against another, a judge or jury may be less likely to give weight to the alleged evidence against you.
Show Flaws in Forensic Evidence and Police Work
If the prosecution has forensic evidence showing your presence at the crime scene, you may believe it is indisputable. But even forensic evidence can be falsified or improperly analyzed. Your attorney can help look for flaws within the forensic evidence, either by challenging the collection method or the method of analyzing it.
Your lawyer could also show that the police violated your constitutional rights by entering your home without a search warrant or failing to read your Miranda rights, for example. Police need to follow strict protocols when charging you with a crime. Evidence collected unlawfully during this process may not be permitted in court.
Expose Inconsistencies in Witness Statements
Witness testimony isn’t always reliable. Even if someone did witness the crime, they may not remember all the details they think they do. Some of their memories may have changed over time, or they may have projected details they learned later onto the memory.
If the prosecution is using witness statements as key evidence in your case, you’re in luck. Your criminal defense lawyer can challenge their testimony by looking for inconsistencies in their statements.
Witnesses who truly remember the event should provide the same information every time they are questioned about it. If they change their answer even slightly during your attorney’s cross-examination, this could indicate that their memory has failed them, weakening their testimony and the evidence against you.
Contact Michael White, P.A., Today
If you’re facing criminal charges, you need strong defense tactics from an experienced, committed lawyer. Michael White, P.A., spent several years as a prosecutor before starting his criminal defense practice. He can anticipate the prosecutor’s claims against you and conduct a thorough case analysis to challenge and weaken the prosecution’s evidence.
Contact Michael White, P.A., today at 954-270-0769 to schedule your consultation with a criminal defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
