Legal Issues at the Crime Scene

What is crime and how is punishment decided for each crime? These are important questions that one must ask when thinking about legal issues at the crime scene. A crime is an act or omission that constitutes an offense and may be prosecuted and punished in a court of law. Because not all crimes are the same level of severity, the punishment must be proportional to the crime itself. To this end, there are several "levels" of crime:

Infraction/Violation - These crimes are usually very minor and generally punishable by a fine. For example, a traffic or parking ticket is an infraction or violation.
Misdemeanor - This is the next level of crime severity and implies that the offense was less serious than a felony and punishable by no more than one year in jail. An example fo a misdemeanor might be petty theft, leaving the scene of an accident or first time DUI.
Felony - Serious crimes that are punishable by more than 1 year in jail and up to lifetime imprisonment or death if the death penalty is allowed in the state where sentencing occurs.

Crime scene investigation is a varied landscape of unknown factors, standard procedures and legal requirements that investigators must traverse. When investigators arrive on the scene, they must do so with an approach that is both meticulous and within the bounds of the law. Citizens' right to privacy is protected under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The 4th Amendment was adopted to protect against unlawful searches and seizures and extends to all crime scenes, including murders, with few exceptions.

Interactivity: Search Warrant

See the interactivity below to see different types of search warrant exceptions.

Collection and Chain of Custody Procedure

image of evidence and chain of custody form In addition to warrants for search and seizure, crime scene investigators must also ensure that they are following the legal requirements in other aspects of the case. If proper procedure is not followed, evidence may be considered as tampered or inadmissible to court.

One of the ways that crime scene investigators ensure that evidence has always been held secure throughout the collection and preservation process is by following a protocol known as Chain of Custody. Chain of Custody is essentially the paper trail of every person that has been in contact with the evidence throughout its seizure, collection, preservation, analysis and disposition. It generally includes such details as the name, date, time, signature and reason so that all contact with the evidence is clearly documented.

image of person collecting evidence Another important legal aspect to crime scene investigations is the qualifications of the personnel collecting the evidence. It is imperative that the personnel collecting, preserving and analyzing the evidence be properly trained and capable when handling items of evidence. If the evidence is not properly collected or preserved, the results of the analysis could be affected and the evidence would not be admissible in court. If the analysis of the evidence does not follow the appropriate scientific protocol, the results may also be affected and again it would be inadmissible to court.

Once evidence has been properly collected, preserved and analyzed, then it must be evaluated for admissibility to court. It is scrutinized for admissibility under the standards of scientific evidence admissibility required in the state in which the crime occurred. Some states require that it meet the Frye Standard or Daubert Ruling, while others require a combination of the two or have their own additional requirements. The state of Georgia requires evidence to meet the Daubert Ruling in addition to several other considerations when evidence is submitted in court.

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION