Legal Issues

Criminalistics IP1
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Legal Issues

Legal Issues and Constraints at Crime Scene

The crime scene yields important evidence pointing to the events surrounding the crime
and pointing to the responsible party. Physical evidence is considered the impeachable witness
because it provides a physical link from the crime to the suspect or the crime to the victim and it
does not lie, forget, or ignore. When physical evidence is present at the scene it does not only
need to be preserved for its ultimate collection, the evidence also has to be protected by a search
warrant. There are a few exceptions to this need for a search warrant before evidence collection
can occur but in a majority of cases it is important to protect the evidence leally before collecting
the evidence.
When police arrive at a crime scene they secure the scene but do not search for evidence.
The lead crime scene investigator will need to obtain a search warrant in order to ensure the
evidence at the scene. Exceptions to needing a search warrant include permission from the owner
in other words if the owner of the properly calls to report a crime in their home invite police in
no search warrant is needed. The owner of the private property has given consent. Next if the
search will occur in a public place a search warrant is not need or if the evidence is left out in
plain view of the criminal investigator.
There are many situations when police should obtain a search warrant but the rule is if the
crime occurred on private property it is important to either get permission or get a search
warrant. In order for police to obtain a search warrant their needs to be probable cause that
evidence will be located where the search has been requested. In the case of the crime scene
obtaining a search warrant will not be difficult because a crime has occurred but the court may
limit the scope of the search. What this means is the search may be confined to the area where

Legal Issues

the crime occurred and not other parts of the property unless there is probable cause evidence is
located elsewhere on the property.
Legal issues that might arise from not setting a proper perimeter around the crime scene
involve the loss of potential evidence. For crime scenes and critical incidents, it is always better
to have been initially too big than too small (Foster, 2010). NO one but police and criminal
investigators should be allowed within the perimeter. When evidence is outside the perimeter it
has not been properly preserved. When evidence is not properly preserved or managed once the
scene has been preserved this evidence risks forever being lost or if it is not lost it risks exclusion
from the court process. What this means once evidence is no longer within the control of police
or crime scene investigators the chain of evidence has been broken damaging the ability of the
court to authenticate the evidence.
The chain of evidence or custody refers to a chorological documentation of evidence
from when it is preserved, collected, transported, and analyzed. When evidence is outside of the
perimeter it is not present to be chronicled in the documentation making it at risk from being
rejected as evidence in the court process. The court requires documentation from the time the
scene is secured until the evidence is analyzed at the lab any failure to keep the chain of custody
risks the evidence no matter its importance to the case. A broken chain of custody can result in
evidence being excluded from the court case.
Decisions of the courts restricting admissibility of testimonial evidence have significantly
increased the value of physical evidence in homicide investigations (Geberth, 2003). At a crime
scene anything and everything is potentially physical evidence and must be carefully preserved
until it can be collected. Through major Supreme Court decisions, police are restricted in their

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behavior at the crime scene. These restrictions are designed to uphold the due process rights of
the citizen. When police illegally search a crime scene when it is on private property they risk
violating a citizens Fourth Amendment right is a search warrant is not first obtained.
Police and criminal investigators are limited in their actions when it comes to a crime
scene to preserve the due process rights afforded b the Constitution. Due to the importance of
protecting these rights as well as the importance of properly collecting evidence it is essential for
police officers and forensic investigator to understand the importance of these rights. When
members of law enforcement violate these rights through an illegal search they risk the evidence.
If the court finds the evidence has been collected illegally it is subject to being excluded from the
court process. As a result a guilty offender could go free and a innocent my never get justice.
A mock trial is a tool for criminal investigators that are required to testify in court. Once
the criminal investigator has conducted the forensic investigation they will be required to testify
about the evidence in a court of law (Turner, 2011). The mock trial is a tool used to get the
criminal investigator comfortable with testifying in front of the court and providing evidence
clearly and distinctly. When the criminal investigator is effective the information being supplied
to the jury will be clear and easy to understand. If the criminal investigator is not comfortable
with speaking in front of a jury it could appear he or she is not knowledgeable about the evidence
and steps taken at the crime scene.
The crime scene investigation is pivotal to the success of any trial especially when it
involves a violent crime involving physical evidence. How the crime scene investigator
approaches the scene will determine the eligibility of the evidence in a court of law. In order to

Legal Issues

protect the evidence a search warrant should be sought when necessary. Protecting the evidence
is crucial to ensuring the guilty party is found guilty for the crime they have committed.

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References
Foster, R. (2010). Seven Crime Scene Fundamentals. Retrieved August 24, 2014 from
http://policelink.monster.com/training/articles/146020-seven-crime-scene-fundamentals?
Geberth, V. (2003). Practical crime scene investigation: legal considerations. Practical Homicide
Investigation, 51(5): 2-3
Turner, J. (2011). Legal, Safety and Environmental Considerations of Crime Scene Cleanup.
Retrieved August 24, 2014 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Legal,-Safety-and-EnvironmentalConsiderations-of-Crime-Scene-Cleanup&id=6153549