There are different types of evidence that could be used against you. Shreds of evidence either make or break criminal cases. They can either ultimately press someone to the crime or lay them off of the charges in the end.
Needless to say, they are important in the legal field and there are different types of evidence that could be used to incriminate you. If you are right now facing prominent criminal charges in Las Vegas such as a DUI (Driving under the Influence) or domestic violence, you should understand the power of criminal evidence and its diversity and resilience that you could also use for your advantage.
When do pieces of evidence come in?
Pieces of evidence are presented in court to prove the defendant’s guilt. There usually are shreds of evidence found in the crime scene or elsewhere that could be connected with the encounter. When gathering different types of evidence, there needs to be a chain of custody wherein every step of the collection is properly documented. If this is not carried out, the evidence can be proven invalid to be presented in court.
Having said that, evidence presentation is in the hands of the prosecution. They will have to do their absolute best to show evidence that places the defendant in the exact time and place of the crime and to further establish their criminal liability. As a defendant, you could also use various types of evidence to prove your innocence. More of this in the next paragraph.
What are the different types of evidence?
Types of evidence can be divided into countless categories, but mainly they are direct or circumstantial and must be in a verbal or physical form.
Verbal evidence, as its name, is evidence that is taken from eyewitness accounts, testimonies, confessions, and even recorded voices. Depending on the situation, they can be direct or circumstantial.
Physical evidence, on the other hand, is concrete evidence that is mostly precursor to a court settlement of “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt”. The usual forms of this type of evidence are photographs, fingerprints and other forensic evidence, weapons used, documents, digital files, and other objects that can be touched and perceived.
As a defendant, there also are available kinds of evidence that you can use. First is character evidence, which you can choose to show the prosecutor that how you act and how people identify you is in conflict with the crimes charged against you. Testimonies and even your own criminal record can be used here. However, you must know that this type of evidence is not usually accepted in court unless it is in dire need.
There also exists the exculpatory evidence wherein a recent development in gathering and evaluation of shreds of evidence showed that you are not guilty of the crime at all. An example scenario is when you are being initially pressed on for a certain crime because you are in the house at the time of the murder but the fingerprints extracted from the knife shows otherwise later on.
Before these kinds of evidence are presented in court, however, their admissibility must be proven; meaning, they must be relevant to the case and consistent on its elements. Evidence that holds no connection to any of the matters in the case and/or is taken unlawfully is considered inadmissible in court.
Can you be charged without evidence?
It is impossible and even unlawful to charge or convict a person without proper evidence. If you believe you are wrongly charged with a crime because there is no evidence, you might want to take a second look and consult your criminal defense attorney as there are certain types of evidence in law that you might be overlooking.
What are some laws surrounding different types of evidence?
As they are used to incriminate a person, there are laws that uphold all types of evidence and when one violates them, there will be consequences.
You cannot tamper evidence through concealing or deliberately destroying it in Nevada. According to Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 199.220, any person who “willfully destroy, alter, erase, obliterate or conceal any book, paper, record, writing, instrument or thing shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.”
Offering false evidence is punishable by category D felony while bribing witnesses to influence testimony is a category C felony. As a defendant, you must be vigilant on how pieces of evidence against you are taken or are presented and if you are gathering evidence yourself, you should watch out for mistakes that could worsen your charges.
During a criminal trial, evidence can mean your conviction or your acquittal. Know how they work with the help of a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney to determine what legal steps and how you can formulate your own kind of evidence for defense!