Evidence is the only way to prove whether someone is guilty of a crime. Evidence can take various forms like forensic reports, CCTV recordings, alibis, eyewitnesses, etc but are the key to formulating a convincing and strong legal strategy. No matter how strong your evidence is, using it at the appropriate time is the key to winning the case as the criminal defence specialist Toronto does. Here is a guide on effectively gathering and presenting the evidence to the court.
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Types of Evidence in a Criminal Case
Before gathering the evidence, let's learn what evidence can be presented to the court to defend your client.
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Direct Evidence
Such evidence is self-proving and does not require any reasoning to declare whether the defendant is criminal or innocent. This includes DNA reports, eyewitnesses, pictures, or video recordings. They are a compelling way to prove the innocence of a defendant in court.
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Circumstantial Evidence
This evidence, unlike the direct ones, requires conjecture to work out in the court. Such evidence involves the analysis of the circumstances to find if they were favorable for the defendant to execute the crime such as the defendant's proximity to the crime spot or his/her opportunity or reason of intention to commit a crime.
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Physical Evidence
This evidence includes the items found at the crime scene including weapons, footprints, and clothes that may or may not belong to the candidate. Such evidence is the most trustworthy one as there can be no biases in their interpretation.
Gathering Evidence to Build a Defence
Gathering evidence is a crucial part of the defence strategy and involves the keen and careful analysis of crime scenes and nearby areas to collect as much evidence as you can. Here are the ways of evidence collection that the Toronto criminal defence lawyer teams incorporate in their defence strategy for their defendant.
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Private Investigators
Private investigators are well-trained and have reliable sources to obtain information and gather evidence that can help you win the case. Mostly they work undercover so the real criminal is not alerted of the possible evidence that can shift the accusation to them.
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Interviewing Witnesses
You need to interview the people who were in proximity to the victim or are related to the victims to find a lead to the suspect. However, this way is not as effective as the other methods because of the doubt in the credibility of the witness or their bias towards the crime.
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Collection of Physical Evidence
As discussed earlier, physical evidence is never suspicious no matter what situation the other evidence is pointing to. Therefore, you need a deep search hunt at the crime scene to collect as much physical evidence as you can.
Presenting Evidence in the Court
Collection of the evidence is not enough to develop a compelling legal strategy. The main thing is to present the right evidence at the right time. Consult with the expert to get knowledge about the regulations regarding the presentation of evidence in court. Some criminal case lawyers strategically present their evidence to support their stance while exposing the situation gradually.
Another strategy is to present the evidence during cross-witnessing to weaken the prosecution's evidence by exposing their story loopholes. However, you need to be careful because any carelessness can turn the entire situation in the prosecution's favor.
Final Words
Only the right evidence enables the criminal defence lawyer to lift the crime charges from the defendant. However, with the help of legal consultations and expert advice, you will be able to formulate a foolproof defence strategy.
