How Should Police Handle and Document a Crime Scene in Minnesota?
The law speaks for itself and the only question in a Minnesota criminal case is whether or not the prosecutor can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged actually did it. Right? Not even close. A criminal case starts on the ground and the police officers at the scene are the ones that build it from the ground up. If they do it wrong, that case will, and should, fall. It should fail. Simple as that.
So, opening a complaint and looking at police reports, what should a criminal defense attorney be looking for? The purpose of this article is to look at what officers should do when they first arrive, how they should take control of the scene and how they should document that scene. Future articles will look at evidence integrity and how officers should tag and bag such evidence. We are not even talking about how officers should interrogate witnesses or those of interest, which may leave great opportunities for your defense attorney. If you are facing serious criminal charges in Minnesota, make sure you contact an experienced Minnesota criminal defense attorney. As you might tell, you don’t just roll out of law school and simply know this stuff.
When the Officers First Arrive at an Alleged Crime Scene
When police officers first arrived at the scene, what did they do, first second and third? Did they do a preliminary sweep? Probably. But then, did they or did somebody else secure and protect the scene from contamination or alteration? How? Did they establish boundaries? How? Did they track who came and went? Is there a sign in and out list? The purpose is about protecting evidence and knowing who was there protects people bringing evidence in or taking it out. If the police fail in any of this, it brings into question the quality of “what they find.” Should it even be admissible into evidence?
Documenting an Alleged Crime Scene
The evidence police collect is only as good as the documentation of that evidence. If it is not documented, did any of it happen? How did the police officers document the evidence they “discovered”? Was it photographed? Notes? Reports? Should it have been? Were the photos complete? Were they close-up, medium and long range? How about injuries on individuals? Did they photograph all parties? All injuries? Did they just support one scenario and ignore all others? Was this a rush to judgment? Do officer note location of all furniture, the layout of the scene, distances, evidence locations? Did the police call in Forensic Services Unit in St. Paul? The Minneapolis Crime Lab? How about the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension or BCA? How did any of these Forensics labs work with the local officers? Who had control of the scene?
“If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, did it make a sound? I would argue that no tree fell. Think of evidence the same way. If its not documented, does it even exist.”
Who was assigned to the task of collecting evidence? Is there a custodian in charge of logging and sealing the evidence in proper containers? How is this being documented? As mentioned above, a huge question remains how it was documented, tagged, bagged and more. This will be addressed in future articles.
“Junk in, Junk out. Evidence is only as good as the first cop on the scene. If he or she screws it up, it could actually taint any and everything that follows.”
Upon conclusion of the collection of all evidence at a scene, there should be a final survey of the scene. Normally the officer in charge should be the one to do this. The purpose is obvious. It is a safety check to make sure that nothing was missed along the way. Was this final walk through documented.
If you are facing serious criminal charges in Minnesota, sit down with an experienced criminal trial lawyer. It is about the evidence but it is about the process in which the evidence was collected and so much more.
Jack Rice is a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist and a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist. Jack is also a former CIA case officer and Founder of Jack Rice Defense. Contact Jack Rice Defense for a free confidential consultation or call 651-447-7650 or 612-227-1339.