Criminal charges of any sort can threaten to derail your life. Your freedom is at risk of being stripped from you, and your reputation is on the line. In some instances, a criminal conviction can haunt you for years or even decades to come, too, making it challenging to secure gainful employment and housing. Fortunately, even if the evidence seems mounted against you, you may have strong criminal defense options available that you can use to reduce penalties or beat the charges that have been levied against you altogether.
How to suppress evidence
One of the strongest ways to protect your interests in a criminal case is to try to suppress the prosecution’s evidence. This simply means that you make an argument that the prosecution shouldn’t be allowed to use certain evidence against you. Here are some ways to suppress evidence:
- Illegal search and seizure: Evidence that is illegally obtained by law enforcement can be suppressed. Therefore, if evidence is collected after an illegal traffic stop, then that evidence is deemed tainted under the fruit of the poisonous tree This evidence will likely be deemed inadmissible. Look for other law enforcement errors in conducting a search and seizure that are indicative of illegality.
- Chain of custody errors: Before evidence can be submitted against you, the prosecution has to prove that the evidence is what the prosecution purports it to be. If there have been errors in the collection and maintenance of evidence, then you can argue that it’s been compromised in some fashion. This can lead to suppression of that evidence.
- Failure to appear at a deposition: Prior to trial, you’re going to want to know what the prosecution’s witnesses are going to say. The best way to do that is to depose their witnesses. But if you subpoena those witnesses for a deposition and they fail to appear, then you’ll probably be justified in filing a motion that seeks to exclude that witness’s testimony from being presented at trial.
Building a criminal defense from the ground up
Evidence suppression is just one of the many criminal defense tactics that may be available to you, which highlights the importance of taking a holistic and thorough approach to your case. If you feel like you could benefit from assistance in building your legal arguments, then consider reaching out to a criminal defense firm that has the experience and dedication that you need on your side.
