Evidence Inaccuracies In Criminal Evidence

If any piece of evidence is mishandled or altered in any way it should be well documented. If the items are not labeled with the initials of everyone who handled it, the date, or the description and source of the specimen a problem can arise. Keeping a chain of custody allows for the prosecution to make evidence stand in court. This allows for the prosecutor to show that the evidence that is being offered in court is the same evidence that was collected and received. It also allows them to prove that no tampering was done while it was in custody. The chain of custody shows a chronological order as to the time and date the evidence was received or transferred to another provider (Robin Whitley, 2012). Documenting of a scene can be done through written reports, …show more content…
The person taking the photographs must testify that the image accurately portrays the scene as viewed by that witness. Photographs aide in court hearings and trials to provide the judge as well jurors with a visual record of the scene and evidence that was collected. Crime scene photographs document what is there and where it is in relationship to the scene, whether it is obviously connected to the crime or not. Documenting all elements of a crime scene is major when trying to piece together what happened, how it happened and who did it (Robin Whitley, 2012). Photographs should be taken before anything is disturbed, working through the scene from outside to inside. Multiple photos should be taken, from an overall of the entire scene, to medium shots to show the relationship of evidence, and up-close. Each piece of evidence should be photographed individually to illustrate where it was found and should also be photographed with a scale to indicate the size and without. This establishes the relationships of the evidence to the