The Importance of Properly Handling Evidence

December 13, 2012 (Press-News.org) In November 2012, New Athens, Missouri Police Chief, Dallas Hill, was charged with two felony counts of official misconduct and one felony count of theft. The charges arose after Chief Hill helped himself to an iPod and iPad from the police department's evidence room that were being held as part of a commercial burglary and forgery case. If there was any doubt as to Hill's intentions, a forensic analysis verified that Hill had been using the devices.

Aside from the moral and criminal implications of Hill's behavior, his case touches on the importance of the proper handling of evidence in criminal cases. When the police determine a crime has been committed they immediately begin to collect evidence to support the charged offenses. The strength of the evidence is a driving force behind whether a defendant decides to take a plea agreement or exercise his or her right to a trial on the charges.

Strict procedures and techniques must accompany the collection and preservation of evidence. The central goal is to maintain evidence in a state as close to that it was in when the incident in question occurred. The evidence will potentially be used to prove charges in a trial and must therefore maintain its evidentiary value. Avoiding contamination and deterioration is crucial and each piece of evidence must be properly packaged, sealed and labeled.

Because evidence can come in so many different forms, the packaging and storage of evidence must be equally diverse. For example, liquids must be maintained in airtight and non-breakable containers whereas moist biological items must be kept in breathable containers to prevent molding and thus contamination.

A major component in properly handling evidence is the chain of custody. It is a list of people who have been responsible for a particular piece of evidence from the time it was collected to the time it is admitted into evidence at trial. The purpose is to ensure along every step of the process that there is a witness to counter any claims that the evidence was lost, contaminated or modified in any way since the moment it was collected.

Looking at Chief Dallas Hill's situation, using an impounded iPod and iPad could have contaminated important evidence. Potential fingerprints on the items could have been smudged and lost. Information on the devices that provided evidence of the commercial burglary and forgery crimes could have been erased or altered. More importantly, Chief Hill broke the chain of custody and the items may not be usable as evidence at all. If they are crucial to the case, the case may have to be dismissed.

Only credible, authentic and uncompromised evidence can come into evidence at trial. Therefore, the preservation of evidence is extremely important in a criminal case. Failure to follow the proper procedures and techniques in collecting and storing evidence can significantly impact a criminal case. In fact, significant failures can result in the dismissal of an entire case or the admission of contaminated evidence at trial.

Article provided by Polinske & Associates, P.C.
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