Wrongly Accused Of A Crime? Some Tips To Prove Your Innocence

Just because you’ve been accused of a criminal offense, does not mean that you are guilty of one. In fact, although most prosecutors are careful, they do frequently make mistakes.

In these circumstances, defendants want to know what they and their lawyers can do to avoid a guilty verdict.

Get A Lawyer

The first thing that any suspect accused of a crime must do is hire a criminal defense attorney. Criminal defense attorneys are the prism through which you’ll channel your defense. You’ll need a lawyer for many reasons, but the main reason is to ensure that you do not reveal anything that could be used as evidence against you.

Once you’ve got a lawyer acting on your behalf, you’re ready to prove your innocence.

Let Things Play Out

Being a defendant is hard, mostly because you often have to wait for such a long time for closure. Criminal cases can often drag out for months, sometimes years. And often it’s because their prosecution does not feel as though it has collected enough evidence for a criminal conviction.

This can sometimes work to the defendant’s advantage. Often the prosecution can hinge on the testimony of a single witness. But it sometimes transpires that the witness is not credible. Other times cases can expire because the defense wins a pretrial motion. Perhaps police illegally seized evidence, for instance.

File For A Dismissal

One reason why it’s such a good idea to hire a lawyer is that they can file for a dismissal. Often, defense lawyers can liaise with the prosecution and show they evidence that events could not have unfolded as alleged. In these situations, it is entirely possible for the prosecuting lawyers to drop the case before it has even made it to court.

Of course, lawyers who speak to the opposing side, risk revealing information that could damage your case. But that just emphasizes the importance of hiring a quality lawyer.

Point Out Limited Or Incorrect Information

Usually, when a case is first presented to a prosecutor, they have little to go on. Most of the time, all they have is the police report.

But it turns out that the humble police report is actually a document of crucial importance to the defense. Most police reports are written in haste, and often, poorly. That means there are plenty of opportunities for your attorney to point out problems. Perhaps the exact sequence of events recorded is erroneous in some way. It could be that the officer at the scene did not correctly record a conversation.

Worse, it could be that the police report is obviously biased. It is not unknown for police to file scathing reports against individuals to whom they take a disliking. In these cases, it is possible to have the case thrown out before it even goes to court.

For most defendants, this sounds like the best option. Criminal defense is stressful, so anything that avoids the hearing is a bonus. Often, quality lawyers can find issues in the police report and stop a case from ever going to court.