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.