A Strong Criminal Defense Requires Immediate Preservation of Evidence

If you or are loved one is charged with a criminal in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, or Orange County, California, then it is very important that you contact an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately to determine whether there is any evidence in the case that needs to be preserved.

If there is evidence in your case that could be destroyed, it is important to preserve that evidence so that it might be used in Court to prove your innocence. An attorney should immediately demand that such evidence be preserved and not destroyed.

After given notice of the evidentiary value of a specific thing, failure to preserve such evidence could result in a prosecution under California Penal Code section 153, which states that "every person who, knowing that any book, paper, record, instrument in writing, or other matter or thing, is about to be produced in evidence upon any trial, inquire or investigation whatever, authorized by law, willfully destroys or conceals same with the intent thereby to prevent it from being produced, is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Failure to preserve evidence after given notice of its evidentiary value could also result in a tort action for intentional spoliation of evidence against a person or company for intentionally destroying evidence.

It is therefore important that an experienced criminal defense lawyer immediately demand that no part of this evidence be altered, tampered with, removed or destroyed, and that such evidence be preserved.

Contact the Law Offices of Scott D. Hughes at 714-423-6928 immediately for your free consultation.

Scott Hughes is a criminal defense lawyer in Newport Beach, California practicing in State and Federal Court.