How an Experienced Lawyer Can Challenge Evidence in Your Criminal Case

How an Experienced Lawyer Can Challenge Evidence in Your Criminal Case

If you’ve been charged with a crime, one of the most important things your defense lawyer can do is challenge the evidence against you. An experienced criminal defense attorney has many strategies to try to get evidence thrown out, or at least raise doubts about its reliability. This article will discuss some of the main ways a good lawyer can attack the prosecution’s evidence.

File a Motion to Suppress Evidence

One of the most common and powerful tools is for the defense to file a motion to suppress evidence. This asks the judge to rule that certain evidence was obtained illegally, in violation of your constitutional rights. If the judge agrees, that evidence cannot be used against you at trial.

Some common grounds for suppression motions:

• The police conducted an illegal search without a warrant or probable cause
• You were subjected to a coercive interrogation without Miranda warnings
• The police detained you without reasonable suspicion

An experienced lawyer will aggressively investigate the facts surrounding your arrest and how the evidence was obtained. If there are any plausible arguments the police crossed the line, your attorney can file a motion asking the judge to toss out the tainted evidence. This could get the whole case dismissed if the remaining evidence is too weak.

Object to Evidence at Trial

If a suppression motion fails, your lawyer can still object to evidence when the prosecution tries to introduce it at trial. The rules of evidence strictly limit what the jury can consider. Some grounds for objection include:

• Hearsay: Out-of-court statements offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted
• Unauthenticated evidence: No proof the evidence is what the prosecution claims
• Unfairly prejudicial: The probative value is outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice

Your lawyer will closely analyze each piece of evidence the prosecution wants to introduce. If there’s a solid basis under the rules of evidence to object, your attorney will do so on the record. This preserves the issue for appeal. The judge’s ruling will determine whether the jury hears about that evidence.

Cross-Examine the Prosecution’s Witnesses

One of the main jobs of a defense lawyer is to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses. This involves asking probing questions to undermine the witness’s credibility or cast doubt on the accuracy of their testimony.

For example, if a witness claims to have clearly seen you commit the crime, your attorney may get them to admit they were a long distance away in poor lighting. Or your lawyer could grill a police officer about sloppy investigative procedures, showing how evidence could have been contaminated.

Skillful cross-examination requires extensive preparation and deep knowledge of the case facts. An experienced trial lawyer knows how to attack witness testimony effectively within the rules of evidence.

Present Affirmative Evidence Poking Holes in the Prosecution’s Theory

The best defense is often a good offense. Rather than just reacting to the prosecution’s evidence, your lawyer can proactively present evidence showing you are innocent or raising reasonable doubt about your guilt. Some techniques include:

• Alibi evidence you were somewhere else at the time of the crime
• Eyewitnesses who dispute the prosecution’s version of events
• Expert testimony, like a DNA expert or forensic scientist, to challenge the prosecution’s scientific evidence
• Evidence of third-party guilt suggesting someone else committed the crime

Presenting compelling evidence of your own allows your lawyer to shape the narrative and put the prosecution on the defensive.

Argue the Evidence is Insufficient to Convict

At the close of the prosecution’s case, your lawyer can argue they failed to present sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to convict you. If the judge agrees, the case can be dismissed right then and there.

Your attorney will explain why the evidence, even viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, does not add up to proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. For instance, the evidence may be vague, circumstantial, contradicted by other evidence, based on questionable science, or rely on witnesses with serious credibility problems.

While judges rarely grant these motions, making the argument lays the groundwork for an appeal if you are convicted.

Closing Argument to Poke Holes in the Prosecution’s Case

If the case makes it to a jury, your lawyer’s closing argument is a final opportunity to identify all the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case and explain why the evidence falls short of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Your attorney can powerfully rehash:

• All the ways the police investigation was sloppy or biased
• How the witnesses are not credible or contradict each other
• The implausibility of the prosecution’s theory
• Any affirmative evidence consistent with your innocence

The goal is to create that all-important reasonable doubt. Skilled oral advocacy in closing can be enough to sway the jury your way.

Bottom Line

An experienced criminal defense lawyer has many tools to challenge the prosecution’s evidence. Fighting evidence is often the key to winning dismissal or acquittal in a criminal case. So if you are charged with a crime, it pays to hire the best lawyer you can afford!

References

Motion to Suppress Evidence – Criminal Cases
Federal Rules of Evidence
Closing Argument