Criminal charges don’t mean someone is going to court. There are instances when the case is dismissed. Getting the assistance of a criminal defense law firm in Kent can help anyone who is facing criminal charges. A defense attorney who wants to prove the innocence of a client needs to prove the following things:
Probable Cause
There must be a probable cause to arrest a person. Arresting a person because of gossip and hearsay is unacceptable. There must be probable cause that a person did something wrong or suspected that something wrong was done.
A police officer can arrest a person if there’s a reasonable belief that a crime was committed. This should be based on objectivity. For example, an eye witness to a store robbery saw a guy wearing a black cap, purple hoodie, and denim pants, and holding a pistol. The police then have probable cause to arrest anyone fitting the description.
Criminal Complaint
A criminal complaint must be filed with the understanding that the content is based on the truth. The officer signing the document under oath must attest to that. There is a corresponding law for every state, and it may vary from state to state. For this reason, the complaint document can’t be edited if it doesn’t comply with the local law. The officer who signed the complaint should be the one making the changes. There is a possibility that the case will be dismissed if the police officer who wrote the complaint leaves his job before the discovery of the error.
Stop or Search
It’s legal for law enforcement to stop and search a person or vehicle they’re suspecting for violation. However, if they’re stopping and searching for reasons that include racial characteristics, the stop will become illegal because it violates the constitutional rights of the person.
Additionally, they can stop and search with a warrant. They can do so, too, without a warrant but only on special circumstances. For example, they can arrest without a warrant in emergencies like hearing gunshots inside a house. The case might be dismissed if a stop and search were done without following the legal process.
Lack of Sufficient Evidence
For a case to push through, enough evidence must be given by the prosecution to create probable evidence. The evidence presented must be objective and have a factual basis. This is where the authorities will base their decision if it has probable cause and can be pushed through as a court case. It will be dismissed if no probable cause is found. Besides that, having limited evidence is also grounds to dismiss the charges.
Loss of Evidence
A loss of physical evidence happens when the key witness to the criminal case is unavailable to testify. The prosecution, in this case, will lose physical evidence important to the case. There are cases when the witness testimony is the most important piece of evidence. When it is lost, there isn’t enough evidence anymore, and the case will be dismissed. The availability of the key witness is important because they are the ones to identify who the perpetrator is.
The Decision of the Prosecutor
Lastly, the prosecutor is the person to decide if there are grounds to dismiss the case. They may agree to do so in the presence of extenuating circumstances. The facts can be questioned, too, based on the record of the defendant. Does this person have a clean record? Then, there are grounds to dismiss the case.
Final Thoughts
How the case will proceed is all up to the evidence presented. It also depends on how the evidence was obtained. It’s important to hire the best defense lawyer for a criminal case to make sure that the charges will be dismissed in the defendant’s favor.
