If you have been accused of a crime you did not commit; of course, you will need to do all you can to help ensure you are not wrongly convicted. But, what can you do to prove you’re not guilty? This is not an uncommon situation, unfortunately. Law enforcement is very good at determining whether an arrest is appropriate. Nevertheless, sometimes innocent people do get arrested. The police must make discretionary decisions, and not every one of their assessments will be accurate.
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Proving innocence in court is often not possible, depending on the situation. But, you should be clear that you do not necessarily need to prove you are innocent to win an acquittal in criminal court. It’s the prosecutor’s job to prove you are guilty — beyond a reasonable doubt. Your defense team’s job is to show that the prosecutor has not reached the required threshold of proof. But, how do you do that?
Your defense lawyer will work to provide sufficient evidence that it doesn’t make sense to believe you committed the crime. Your criminal defense attorney will attempt to show that your evidence weakens the prosecutor’s evidence for conviction to the extent that a conviction would be inappropriate.
Generally, the design of the criminal court process does contemplate the benefit of the doubt for the accused person. Even if you cannot provide any proof of your innocence, it is the prosecutor, not you, who has the responsibility to provide sufficient proof under the law.
As discussed, you do not have to prove your innocence. In fact, under the law, you are innocent until you are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So, the most productive thing you can do to help your case is to provide all possible evidence to weaken the prosecutor’s case against you.
Depending on the details of your case, you may not be able to provide enough evidence to prove you are innocent. But, you may be able to offer enough evidence to make it clear that the prosecutor has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty.
Although you are not legally compelled to prove you are innocent, naturally, the more evidence you do have to show that you’re innocent, the weaker the prosecution’s case against you becomes. So, identifying and presenting any proof of your innocence you do have is helpful to your defense. Here are three ways to show you are innocent of a crime:
Determine what kinds of evidence can show that you are not guilty. For example, maintenance records for a breathalyzer device may indicate that the equipment could have been performing poorly. Or, a DNA sample or fingerprints may be needed to prove that you were not involved in a crime. With many types of crimes, there are various possibilities that an experienced criminal defense lawyer will pursue to weaken the case against you.
If you can show that you were at a different location when the alleged crime occurred, then the prosecutor, judge, and jury should be able to see that you could not have committed the crime. Of course, that conclusion depends on the other details of your case. Compelling evidence for your defense can include:
Some kinds of false accusations are not uncommon in criminal courts, and those sometimes lead to other types of charges. If you have been falsely accused of a crime, discuss your situation with an experienced Salt Lake City defense lawyer who can help you build the strong defense necessary to win. If you have a strong alibi or there is other evidence that can help exonerate you, your attorney may be able to show that the accuser has lied.
Showing serious problems in the prosecutor’s case is a more effective way of defending yourself than trying to prove you did not commit the crime of which you’ve been accused. Why? Because it’s generally too difficult to prove a negative. In other words, it’s tough to prove that something did not happen or who did not do it. So, focus on showing why the accusations against you do not fit with the evidence you have to the contrary.
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