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Spoliation Of Evidence
Tampering with evidence, or evidence tampering, is an act in which a person alters, conceals, falsifies, or destroys evidence with the intent to interfere with an investigation (usually) by a law-enforcement, governmental, or regulatory authority. It is a criminal offense in many jurisdictions. Tampering with evidence is closely related to the legal issue of spoliation of evidence, which is usually the civil law or due process version of the same concept (but may itself be a crime). Tampering with evidence is also closely related to obstruction of justice and perverting the course of justice, and these two kinds of crimes are often charged together. The goal of tampering with evidence is usually to cover up a crime or with intent to injure the accused person. Spoliation Spoliation of evidence is the intentional, reckless, or negligent withholding, hiding, altering, fabricating, or destroying of evidence relevant to a legal proceeding. The spoliation inference is a negative ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evidence (law)
The law of evidence, also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision. The trier of fact is a judge in bench trials, or the jury in any cases involving a jury. The law of evidence is also concerned with the quantum (amount), quality, and type of proof needed to prevail in litigation. The rules vary depending upon whether the venue is a criminal court, civil court, or family court, and they vary by jurisdiction. The quantum of evidence is the amount of evidence needed; the quality of proof is how reliable such evidence should be considered. Important rules that govern admissibility concern hearsay, authentication, relevance, privilege, witnesses, opinions, expert testimony, identification and rules of physical evidence. There are various standards of evidence, standard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contempt Of Court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the court. A similar attitude toward a legislative body is termed contempt of Parliament or contempt of Congress. The verb for "to commit contempt" is contemn (as in "to contemn a court order") and a person guilty of this is a contemnor. There are broadly two categories of contempt: being disrespectful to legal authorities in the courtroom, or willfully failing to obey a court order. Contempt proceedings are especially used to enforce equitable remedies, such as injunctions. In some jurisdictions, the refusal to respond to subpoena, to testify, to fulfill the obligations of a juror, or to provide certain information can constitute contempt of the court. When a court decides that an action constitutes contempt of court, it can issue an order i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Legal Terminology
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evidence Tampering
Tampering with evidence, or evidence tampering, is an act in which a person alters, conceals, falsifies, or destroys evidence with the intent to interfere with an investigation (usually) by a law-enforcement, governmental, or regulatory authority. It is a criminal offense in many jurisdictions. Tampering with evidence is closely related to the legal issue of spoliation of evidence, which is usually the civil law or due process version of the same concept (but may itself be a crime). Tampering with evidence is also closely related to obstruction of justice and perverting the course of justice, and these two kinds of crimes are often charged together. The goal of tampering with evidence is usually to cover up a crime or with intent to injure the accused person. Spoliation Spoliation of evidence is the intentional, reckless, or negligent withholding, hiding, altering, fabricating, or destroying of evidence relevant to a legal proceeding. The spoliation inference is a negative evi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Security Bag
A security bag is a heavy duty bag used to contain high-value products or documents or legally sensitive items. Envelopes with security features are called security envelopes as well as security bags. Cash for deposit in a bank is often placed in a special deposit bag with security features. When used to contain items related to a crime, special evidence bags are used. Authentication of signatures and chain of custody are often required. Construction Security bags or envelopes may be specially designed plastic bags, paper bags, or fabric bags. Bags or envelopes can be made to be tamper resistant to make it difficult for unauthorized entry; often it is more important for these to be tamper evident, to indicate when an unauthorized entry has occurred. Bags and envelopes are often closed by an integral pressure sensitive adhesive on the closing flap; removal of a release liner allows convenient closing of the bag. Several types of security features can be included in the flap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Police Misconduct
Police misconduct refers to inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: coerced false confession, intimidation, false arrest, false imprisonment, falsification of evidence, spoliation of evidence, police perjury, witness tampering, police brutality, police corruption, racial profiling, unwarranted surveillance, unwarranted searches, and unwarranted seizure of property. Types of police misconduct Types of police misconduct include: * Bribing or lobbying legislators to pass or maintain laws that give police excessive power or status * Similarly, bribing or lobbying city council members to pass or maintain municipal laws that make victimless acts ticket-able (e.g. bicycling on the sidewalk), so as to get more money * Selective enforcement ("throwing the book at" people who one dislikes; this is often related to racial discrimination) * Sexual misconduct * Off-duty mis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perverting The Course Of Justice
Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statutory versions of the offence exist in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, and New Zealand. The Scottish equivalent is defeating the ends of justice, while the South African counterpart is defeating or obstructing the course of justice. A similar concept, obstruction of justice, exists in United States law. England and Wales Doing an act tending and intending to pervert the course of public justice is an offence under the common law of England and Wales. Perverting the course of justice can be any of three acts: * Fabricating or disposing of evidence * Intimidating or threatening a witness or juror * Intimidating or threatening a judge Also criminal are: # conspiring with another to pervert the course of justice, and # intending to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obstruction Of Justice
Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other government officials. Common law jurisdictions other than the United States tend to use the wider offense of perverting the course of justice. Obstruction is a broad crime that may include acts such as perjury, making false statements to officials, witness tampering, jury tampering, destruction of evidence, and many others. Obstruction also applies to overt coercion of court or government officials via the means of threats or actual physical harm, and also applying to deliberate sedition against a court official to undermine the appearance of legitimate authority. Legal overview Obstruction of justice is an umbrella term covering a variety of specific crimes. ''Black's Law Dictionary'' defines it as any "interference with the orderly admini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Hold
A legal hold is a process that an organization uses to preserve all forms of potentially relevant information when litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated. The legal hold is initiated by a notice or communication from legal counsel to an organization that suspends the normal disposition or processing of records, such as backup tape recycling, archived media and other storage and management of documents and information. A legal hold will be issued as a result of current or anticipated litigation, audit, government investigation or other such matter to avoid evidence spoliation. Legal holds can encompass business procedures affecting active data, including backup tape recycling. Recent amendments to the United States Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) address the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) (aka e-discovery), expanding the use of a "legal hold" beyond preservation of paper documents. The amendments were written in anticipation of legal argume ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illegal Disposal Of Bodies In The Water
Disposal of human corpses, also called final disposition, is the practice and process of dealing with the remains of a deceased human being. Disposal methods may need to account for the fact that soft tissue will decompose relatively rapidly, while the skeleton will remain intact for thousands of years under certain conditions. Several methods for disposal are practiced. A funeral is a ceremony that may accompany the final disposition. Regardless, the manner of disposal is often dominated by spirituality with a desire to hold vigil for the dead and may be highly ritualized. In cases of mass death, such as war and natural disaster, or in which the means of disposal are limited, practical concerns may be of greater priority. Ancient methods of disposing of dead bodies include cremation practiced by the Romans, Greeks, Hindus, and some Mayans; burial practiced by the Chinese, Japanese, Bali, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, as well as some Mayans; mummification, a type of embalming, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Investigation
Fire investigation, sometimes referred to as origin and cause investigation, is the analysis of fire-related incidents. After firefighters extinguish a fire, an investigation is launched to determine the origin and cause of the fire or explosion. Investigations of such incidents require a systematic approach and knowledge of basic fire science. Investigating fires The difficulty of determining whether arson has occurred arises because fire often destroys the key evidence of its origin. Many fires are caused by defective equipment, such as shorting of faulty electrical circuits. Car fires can be caused by faulty fuel lines, and spontaneous combustion is possible where organic wastes are stored. A fire investigator looks at the fire remains, and obtains information to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the fire. One of the challenging aspects of fire investigation is the multi-disciplinary basis of the investigator's job. As fires can be caused by or involve many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evidence Packaging
Evidence packaging involves the specialized packaging methods and materials used for physical evidence. Items need to be collected at a crime scene or a fire scene, forwarded to a laboratory for forensic analysis, put in secure storage, and used in a courtroom, all while maintaining the chain of custody. Items might include DNA, drugs, hair samples, body parts, blood samples, sperm, knives, vomit, firearms, bullets, fire accelerants, computers, checkbooks, etc. Each police or fire jurisdiction has its own policies and procedures for evidence collection and handling. Legal requirements for admissible evidence to a court also vary from region to region. Many commonalities do exist. Physical containment and protection Packaging should be the proper size, type, and material for the item. Many items are suited to a clean paper bag sealed with a security tape. Many jurisdictions desire one item per container, but situations do vary. Clean zipper storage bags are also used: spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
