Why is Protecting a Crime Scene So Important in Minnesota?

While proper collection and analysis of a crime scene is critical to getting the right answers, the most important first step for the government is protecting the crime scene itself. This is necessary to make sure that important evidence remains uncontaminated until it is recorded, documented and collected. If the Government fails at this stage, everything that comes out of the analysis may be flowed or contaminated. The result could be the exclusion of evidence or even the dismissal of the case. If you are facing serious criminal charges in Minnesota and forensics and crime scene analysis is important, make sure you sit down with an experienced Minnesota criminal defense attorney.

"If the Government fails at this stage, everything that comes out of the analysis may be flowed or contaminated. The result could be the exclusion of evidence or even the dismissal of the case.”

How Should the Government Protect and Document a Crime Scene?

When dealing with a crime scene, the police must do certain things. Proper crime scene protection starts when the first officer arrives and and finishes once the scene is released from police custody. Of course, the very first step is to make sure that the crime scene is secured. This means safe. Once this is done, documenting and preserving evidence begins. The common steps include:

• Create a perimeter: This is the first step. This may involve crime scene tape and barricades or simply police officers to keep everybody else out of the area. Law enforcement sometimes uses the phrase, cordon off the area.

• Document the scene: Police officers and other crime scene investigations can start taking pictures, videos and sketches. The purpose is to document everything of consequence including location, position of individual objects and condition of the scene. This must be done carefully and thoroughly. This stage is important into order to be able to essentially recreate how the scene was discovered.

• Collect any evidence: The police will then collect any physical evidence that may be present at the scene. This includes everything from clothing, weapons, DNA, fingerprints, and more. Proper packaging to protect for DNA, prints and other forensic is important to make sure the lab has an uncontaminated or protected specimen.

• Interview any and all potential witnesses: The police will interview all complaining witnesses and other witnesses who may be present at the scene. This may be done using notes, audio and video including vest and squad cams.

• Preserve the scene along the way: The police should protect the scene, limit the number of people allowed access and control who steps within the perimeter in order to avoid destruction and contamination of evidence.

• Release the scene: Upon completion of the documentation and collection process, the police will release the scene. They will take down barricades, removing crime scene tape and opening the location back to non-law enforcement personnel.

By following these steps, the purpose is to make sure that law enforcement does their job. From the perspective of somebody defending someone charged of a crime, it provides a standard that must be met. Any failure of deviation provides an argument to exclude evidence from that crime scene and to argue the validity of the entire criminal investigation.

“There are a lot of moving parts in a crime scene investigation. If the Government fails in even one of these, it cold be catastrophic.”

If you are facing criminal charges in Minnesota and the police failed to protect the integrity of their crime scene, you may be able to exclude information or even get an entire case thrown out of court. It is important to sit down with an experienced Minnesota criminal defense attorney to discuss how you do this. .

Jack Rice is a Board Certified Criminal Law Special and a nationally known criminal defense attorney. He is also a former prosecutor and a for CIA Officer. He is also the Founder of Jack Rice Defense, a boutique criminal defense firm based on Cathedral Hill in St. Paul, Minnesota. Contact Jack Rice Defense for a free confidential consultation or call 651-447-7650 or 612-227-1339.