Criminal Evidence
Marjie Britz
Chapter Twelve:
Documentary and Scientific
Evidence
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Exclusion of Evidence
Motions: Formal requests submitted to the
court for a specific order
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Motion to exclude
Motion to strike
Objections: May be extended for a variety of
reasons including, but not limited to:
irrelevance of material, improper question,
speculative, answer calls for hearsay, lack of
response, etc.
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Exclusion of Evidence
Evidence must be:
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Material: It could affect the outcome of the legal
proceeding at hand
Competent: Appears truthful and reliable
Relevancy: Has probative value (determine what
happened)
Relevant evidence may be excluded if its
probative value is substantially outweighed by
the potential for unfair prejudice
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Relevancy
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FRE 401 defines relevant evidence
as evidence “having any tendency to
make the existence of any fact that is
of consequence to the outcome of the
action more probable or less probable
than it would be without the
evidence.”
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Proffering of Physical Evidence
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First step in the introduction of evidence
is marking by the clerk (People’s Exhibit
“A” Defense Exhibit “1”)
Then presented to the witness for
identification and authentication
Chain of Custody must be established
that the object in court is the same item
that was collected at the crime scene.
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Documentary Evidence
Documentary Evidence includes a variety of
communications, and includes any medium in
which data is collected or information stored.
Generally speaking, there are four areas of
interest distinct to considerations of
documentary evidence
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Parol Evidence Rule (Four Corners of Document)
Best Evidence Rule (Original… Blue vs. Black Ink)
Authentication (It is what it is purported to be)
Hearsay (Second Hand out of court statement)
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Documentary Evidence
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Parol Evidence Rule hinges upon the
assumption that a written agreement is
the final expression of that agreement.
Best Evidence Rule provides that
secondary evidence, such as copies or
facsimiles, are not admissible if the
original is available.
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Documentary Evidence
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The “best evidence” or “original
document” rule is codified under the
Federal Rules of Evidence
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Documentary Evidence
Authentication takes a variety of forms depending on
the nature of the proposed document:
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Testimony of witness with knowledge
Non-expert opinion on handwriting
Comparison by trier or expert witness
Distinctive characteristics
Voice identification
Telephone conversations
Public records or reports
Ancient documents
Process or System
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Documentary Evidence
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Self-Authenticating documents
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“Certified” copies of public records
Official publications of government agencies
Newspaper articles or periodicals
Trade inscriptions
Business records
Acknowledged documents
Commercial paper
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Scientific Evidence
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Scientific Evidence: physical evidence
which involves theories, processes,
experiments, empirical analysis and/or
results of same which requires the
utilization of expert testimony
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Physical Evidence
Questioned Documents require corroboration
to demonstrate the genuineness or authenticity
of the questioned item (requires expert
testimony).
Includes:
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Handwriting and signature comparisons
Typewriting, printer, and ink analysis / comparisons
Indentations, altered, and charred documents
Computer documents and
Fingerprints
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Physical Evidence
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Voice Recognition: Traditionally,
testimony involving this was limited to lay
witnesses and their opinions. If recorded,
we can conduct comparisons.
Firearms
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striations
ballistics
trace evidence
DNA
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Sources of Physical Evidence
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The law enforcement officer, or
investigator, can find physical evidence in
many places and can use it to determine
what crime has been committed, to lead to
other evidence, to enable the officer to
reconstruct the crime, and to assist in
convicting the perpetrator.
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Where to Look?
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The most logical
and lucrative place
to find physical
evidence is at the
crime scene. The
perpetrator’s
person, vehicle,
home, place of
business, or base of
operations, victim’s
person are prime
sources of evidence.
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
Kinds of Physical Evidence
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Fruits of a crime–the items obtained as
a result of the crime.
Instrumentalities used in committing the
crime–the objects that the perpetrator
used to commit the crime.
Contraband–any item that is illegal for a
person to possess.
Evidence of a crime–any object that
shows that a crime has been
committed.
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008