If you have ever had to attend court in order to prove your innocence, you know how much your appearance and attitude can impact the proceedings. Unfortunately, all too many people misinterpret how they should dress and what they should do in court, which is why I decided to make this blog. This website is all about creating a great impression in court and understanding how to present yourself to the judge and jury. After all, you might be trying to defend your innocence to avoid potential jail time. Check out this blog for great tips that could help you to protect your freedom.
If you're suspected of a crime, it's important to understand the evidence against you in order to anticipate how you'll build your defense. However, investigations can go on for a long time before you're ever charged, and people are often fooled into believing that they have more privacy from the government than they actually have. Learn more about the sort of evidence that police can gather against you with relative ease.
1. Records of your phone's location.
Police in major cities are turning to a phone tracking device known as a "stingray." The device, which is in use in more than 50 cities nationwide, imitates a cell phone and can allow the police to locate a device within a few yards. Intended for anti-terrorism efforts, the device has been used to track down people accused of things as small as petty theft.
In addition, police don't generally need a warrant to get information about your cell phone's location from a phone company, and they request such records quite often. Nearly 1.3 million such requests were handled by cell phone companies in 2011 alone. Authorities admit that most people are unaware that their locations are being tracked. By tracking your cell phone's location and the location of the cell phones used by other people you know, authorities can often build a timeline that shows where you've been and who was with you.
2. Your old emails and texts.
Authorities need a warrant to get any emails or texts that are less than 180 days old, but anything older than that only requires a subpoena. The difference is significant because the police have to show that they have probable cause to believe that you committed a crime in order to get a warrant—but they only need to show that the information is somehow relevant to an investigation in order to get a subpoena.
That means that police can pour through your old communications, fishing for information, pretty easily. That may give them enough information to build upon in order to ask a judge for a warrant if they want your more recent communications.
3. Your computer's location.
Do you ever wonder how people who post their crimes to Facebook or other social media sites get caught so quickly? What many people don't realize is that their computer has a unique ID, known as an IP address, which gets tracked every time they make a post. Social media sites are fairly willing to turn over that information to law enforcement on request. While you may not be posting evidence of criminal activity on your own social media sites, you should keep in mind that your posts can be used just like your cell phone data to build a timeline of your whereabouts.
If you suspect that you're being investigated for a crime, it's important to keep in mind these kinds of details when you discuss the situation with your attorney. By anticipating the sort of evidence that may be gathered against you, you can build a better defense to any accusations that are made. Click here for info on this.
Share19 July 2016