Ask any criminal defense lawyer who has practiced in the last decade, and they'll tell you technology has radically affected their work for clients. If you're a client or someone looking for a criminal defense attorney, it's important to be aware of the impact of recent technological trends. Here's how the digital age is changing the way folks defend themselves in court.

Electronic Evidence

While electronic evidence doesn't change the specific way a lawyer responds to a situation, it does create potential problems for clients before they retain counsel. Particularly, the deletion of texts, emails, and other electronic messages may lead to accusations that a defendant destroyed evidence.

Once a client is aware there might be criminal suspicions related to an incident, it's critical they preserve all evidence. Even if they believe the evidence to be extremely incriminating, it's better to explain why exists than it is to explain why it went away. Prosecutors love what are known as process crimes charges, offenses like obstruction of justice. The simplicity of deleting electronic evidence makes it easy for a prosecutor to tack on a process crime complaint.

Surveillance

This issue is a two-way street. A defendant may benefit if a surveillance video shows they weren't present at the scene of an alleged crime. Conversely, the video could also show someone who looks like the defendant at the scene.

With cameras practically everywhere, the assumption has to be there's some sort of video of an incident. This can help a defendant when they're trying to establish an alibi.

The tradeoff is video can make even justifiable actions look bad. It's hard, for example, to skirt around violence even in self-defense. A criminal defense lawyer often has to work harder to show the justification when violence is captured on video.

AI-Based Evidence

One of the more challenging emerging issues is the police use of artificial intelligence. For example, police departments are often using AI to detect gunshots. There are questions, though, about the validity of the detection claims.

A criminal defense attorney may contest such evidence the same way they handle things like lie detectors or breath analysis in DUI cases. They'll compel the prosecution to produce data supporting the validity of the AI methods. A lawyer may also question how the system has been maintained and tuned over the years. Even access logs can come into play to prove tampering with evidence, as one AI company allegedly did to back up arrests and prosecutorial claims.

Contact a criminal defense lawyer to learn more about your case.

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