As your criminal case unfolds, the prosecution is going to confidently present its evidence as if its failproof. But the reality is that the police make mistakes all the time that can blow a hole in the prosecution’s case. It’s up to you to find those errors and highlight them for the court and the jury so that you can block evidence or at least attack its reliability to the extent that it causes little damage to your defense. One area you should be sure to look for these mistakes is the execution of a search.
Under the law, the police have to secure a search warrant or appropriately rely upon a recognized exception to the warrant requirement before searching your home, business or vehicle. But here are some common mistakes they make when engaging in this process:
- Misconstruing or lying about the facts when submitting a warrant application to a judge.
- Securing a warrant that’s too broad in scope in light of the facts presented.
- Failing to meet the standards required to utilize an exception to the warrant requirement.
- Conducting a search that goes beyond the scope of an issued warrant.
- Initiating a search as the result of some illegal activity on the police’s part, such as searching your vehicle after illegally conducting a traffic stop, which taints any subsequently gathered evidence with illegality.
There may be other search-related errors in your case. You need to identify and highlight them so that you can use them to your advantage in your criminal defense.
Fight to protect your freedom
Your freedom and your future are on the line when you’ve been charged with a criminal offense. That’s why you need to do everything in your power to craft a compelling criminal defense. By educating yourself on the law and aggressively seeking areas of attack in the prosecution’s case, you’ll hopefully be able to beat the charges levied against you and get back to your normal life.