Important Evidences To Collect When Dealing with Sexual Assault Crimes
By Space Coast Daily // April 5, 2020
Sexual assault crimes are a very serious matter. This goes without saying, but the impact of these crimes stretches far beyond the assault itself. From the mental and emotional struggles victims and their loved ones have to go through, the concern about their safety, and the distress caused in disrupting someone’s life, they are heinous acts.
Fortunately for society, it has become much more apparent that evidence is key in stopping these crimes, or at the very least, finding the culprits much faster. The importance of evidence, in any case, is valuable, but these types of evidence in a sexual assault crime are the most useful for the legal system to protect victims.
Hiring the best sexual assault victim lawyer NYC will find these significant in helping you win the case.
Biological Evidence
For obvious reasons, this type of evidence is at the beginning of the list. What is biological evidence and why is it so obvious? Well, in a sexual assault case there is likely going to be evidence that is of human material.
Things like spit, blood, or other human discharges are all able to be collected and used to prosecute the offender. This evidence is one of the most viable ones because it is hard to ignore how apparent it makes someone as a suspect.
Not only that, but this kind of evidence is found all over the victim. It also includes hair and even nails. Sometimes, this is also referred to as forensic evidence, as DNA is a major portion of the way in which people can find the perpetrator.
Eyewitness Testimonies
In the case that there is a witness to the crime, they will be called upon to provide testimony. Now, eyewitness accounts are not always the most reliable, and lawyers and judges know this.
The need for more information on sexual assault cases can sometimes use these testimonies, but they are not as useful as things like DNA. Regardless, the legal side of things will always find a use for an eyewitness because they have experience in these matters.
Lawyers will try to get the most out of these witnesses, but the problem lies in memory changing and suggestibility from the defendant’s lawyer to try and persuade the witness that they did not see what they saw.
It is still useful, and getting all angles of the story is never a bad idea. However, it is important to know how some forms of evidence are much more accepted by courts and why that is.
Video or Photographic Evidence
Surveillance cameras or even cellphone videos/photos are useful as many sexual assault cases are recorded.
It is an unfortunate thing for someone to do such a heinous act into something that can be watched or seen by others, but when it comes to catching the perpetrator, this is highly sought after by the legal team of the victim.
You have probably seen the stories about someone recording the incident, and this a prime example of someone incriminating themselves without fully realizing it.
This type of evidence, like forensic evidence, is very hard to argue against because it is objective and shows something that cannot be argued against for the most part.
Preliminary Statement
This is the first account of what happens, from the mouth of the victim. What they say to someone they know or when speaking to police, investigators, or medical personnel is the first step in terms of building the case using evidence.
The need to get a statement quickly from the victim is important too. Much like the reliability issue with eyewitness accounts, it can be hard to retrace steps if someone has gone through a traumatic event as this clouds judgment.
Likewise, the more time that goes by, the less detail can be remembered. This kind of evidence is also how someone builds their story for the court and can help their lawyers to determine if consent was ever given in the incident.
It makes sense why and how this type of evidence is so valuable to the court, as the most important person in the sexual assault in question is the victim and what they know about what happened to them.
While we can never truly stop these horrible crimes from happening to innocent people, we can always do our best to learn how to serve justice to the affected person.
There are a lot of different kinds of evidence in many different types of legal cases, but these are particularly important to determine how to solve a case of sexual assault. The collection of this evidence can lead to solving the crime and helping someone feel at ease.
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