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Domestic violence convictions can have life-changing consequences. That is why it is important that you work with an attorney that understands the importance of evidence in a Lubbock domestic violence case and can use it to build your defense.
All evidence is useful and an attorney can figure out how they can present your case to the prosecutor before the trial. In order to see what kind of deal they are willing to make.
It is also important for you to hire an experienced family violence lawyer that may know the relevant statutes and case law, and will be able to manage the case far more effectively than someone who has not studied such things. If you have been charged with a domestic violence offense. Work with a domestic violence attorney and know that you are in capable hands.
The prosecutor’s main purpose is to seek justice in a situation. So the prosecutor will look at the arrest or offense report and if the case checks out. They decide to bring a case against the person.When a person has a good defense lawyer. The attorney will work the case, find the issues, and bring those issues to the attention of the prosecutor.
The prosecutor will then use that information to make decisions about what kind of offer they will make. All of that plays a factor in how a prosecutor moves forward with a case. If the situation arises in which a prosecutor, knowing all of that information, is unwilling to make an offer low enough for a defendant to accept, the case goes to trial.
First, a lawyer is going to want to compile everything that the state has against an individual. Attorneys do not want to be surprised at the trial, and in order to have zero surprises at trial, they must procure the evidence ahead of time in order to prepare.
Furthermore, defendant has the right to know what the prosecution is going to use against them and they also have the right to know what the prosecution knows about their case. Especially if it could provide them with a defense, or reduce their culpability in some way.
An attorney will be able to help request that information in a timely way and evaluate it properly. Evidence in a Lubbock domestic violence case could include notes on doctors’ visits. As well as, pictures and video of the scene, and any statements or admissions that the defendant has made. Either to a police officer or sitting in the back of the squad car just talking. Any conversations with police officers will have been recorded and should be made available.
All relevant evidence in a Lubbock domestic violence case is supposed to be allowed to enter a case. With relevance being determined by the ability of a piece of evidence to make a fact in the case more or less probable. However, some pieces of evidence will not prove a case but will be so prejudicial. That just hearing the evidence makes the case impossible to overcome. There are tools that skilled attorneys can use. To get certain bits of evidence dismissed, such as hearsay, and the violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights.
One objection lawyers use is to try to get hearsay dismissed. Hearsay is any out-of-court statement made by a third party and entered into evidence to prove up the truth of the matter asserted. Hearsay has a lot of exceptions but is a useful tool to keep evidence from being heard.
Other tools are appeals to Constitutional rights, such as the right not to self-incriminate. Also, the Fourth Amendment is a useful tool to use if the police have obtained evidence through an illegal search and seizure action.
Additionally, a person has the Sixth Amendment right to confront their accusers. Therefore, a person has the right to confront witnesses at trial. This includes the police officer who wrote the initial report and is sometimes a useful tool in getting evidence dismissed.
The first way that lawyers will stop certain evidence in a Lubbock domestic violence case from coming into the trial is simply by knowing the rules of evidence and objecting when they think that a piece of evidence violates those rules.
Another thing that happens before the trial is called the motion in limine. The lawyer argues before the judge in anticipation of certain evidence coming into the trial. Then, during the trial, the lawyer can call a sidebar about that evidence and discuss whether or not the evidence will be allowed. Altogether, a lawyer can use a motion to suppress, motion in limine, and live objections during trial.
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