AC1.3 - How evidence is processed.
Evidence can be either physical or testimonial. The former is things like hairs, fibres,
fingerprints, and biological samples, and the latter is written or spoken evidence that
comes from people who witnessed or were involved with the crime, as well as experts in
a topic relevant.
With testimonial evidence from suspect, witness, or victim, it helps to collect the
evidence as soon after the crime as possible so that it is as accurate as possible. These
will likely be taken by police officers as notes during an interview, or a written
confession. Alongside this, there may be video or audio recordings (or a transcript of
the recordings) taken as evidence for the court. Furthermore, statements from
witnesses must not be hearsay, and the suspect’s confession must not have been
coerced, through either force or entrapment or any other method. If it has been
obtained under these sorts of methods, then it will not be admissible in court and could
jeopardise the whole case and wouldn’t be considered when trying to reach a verdict.
Any statement from an eyewitness, victim, or expert witness are disclosed to the
barristers for both sides (defence and prosecution), so that they are each able to
prepare appropriate questions. Both before and after disclosure, testimonial evidence is
kept secure and confidential by using very secure, password protected, online systems
to share and store it, or have it transported via sealed and secure envelope, it may then
be stored in a locked cabinet. The witness is then cross-examined in the evidence box,
which can be quite stressful for some witnesses/victims. Victims of sexual offenses
and/or victims that are under 17 years old are considered vulnerable witnesses, and are
able to choose to give evidence over a video link instead of being in court. People who
ability to give evidence may be diminished die to mental or physical disorders also have
this option. The defendant in any case cannot be forced to give evidence or go in the
witness box.
An example of a confession being ruled inadmissible is the case of Rachel Nickel,
where the police had heavily suspected Colin Stagg to be the man who had murdered
her after getting a psychological profile from Paul Britton and deciding that the profile
fit Stagg, they worked with Britton to create an undercover personality (Lizzie James).
This operation quickly became a honeytrap, and Stagg confessed to details of the
crime, resulting in his arrest. When the case got to court, it was ruled that what Stagg
had said wasn’t close to the true crime details, and that the way in which he had
‘confessed’ was entirely unethical, resulting in the evidence being ruled inadmissible
and Colin Stagg was acquitted. Nickell’s real killer was caught years later, and
appropriately charged and sentenced.
Secondly, when it comes to collecting physical evidence, SOCOs generally operate
based on Locard’s Exchange Principle, which believes that any time somebody enters
Evidence can be either physical or testimonial. The former is things like hairs, fibres,
fingerprints, and biological samples, and the latter is written or spoken evidence that
comes from people who witnessed or were involved with the crime, as well as experts in
a topic relevant.
With testimonial evidence from suspect, witness, or victim, it helps to collect the
evidence as soon after the crime as possible so that it is as accurate as possible. These
will likely be taken by police officers as notes during an interview, or a written
confession. Alongside this, there may be video or audio recordings (or a transcript of
the recordings) taken as evidence for the court. Furthermore, statements from
witnesses must not be hearsay, and the suspect’s confession must not have been
coerced, through either force or entrapment or any other method. If it has been
obtained under these sorts of methods, then it will not be admissible in court and could
jeopardise the whole case and wouldn’t be considered when trying to reach a verdict.
Any statement from an eyewitness, victim, or expert witness are disclosed to the
barristers for both sides (defence and prosecution), so that they are each able to
prepare appropriate questions. Both before and after disclosure, testimonial evidence is
kept secure and confidential by using very secure, password protected, online systems
to share and store it, or have it transported via sealed and secure envelope, it may then
be stored in a locked cabinet. The witness is then cross-examined in the evidence box,
which can be quite stressful for some witnesses/victims. Victims of sexual offenses
and/or victims that are under 17 years old are considered vulnerable witnesses, and are
able to choose to give evidence over a video link instead of being in court. People who
ability to give evidence may be diminished die to mental or physical disorders also have
this option. The defendant in any case cannot be forced to give evidence or go in the
witness box.
An example of a confession being ruled inadmissible is the case of Rachel Nickel,
where the police had heavily suspected Colin Stagg to be the man who had murdered
her after getting a psychological profile from Paul Britton and deciding that the profile
fit Stagg, they worked with Britton to create an undercover personality (Lizzie James).
This operation quickly became a honeytrap, and Stagg confessed to details of the
crime, resulting in his arrest. When the case got to court, it was ruled that what Stagg
had said wasn’t close to the true crime details, and that the way in which he had
‘confessed’ was entirely unethical, resulting in the evidence being ruled inadmissible
and Colin Stagg was acquitted. Nickell’s real killer was caught years later, and
appropriately charged and sentenced.
Secondly, when it comes to collecting physical evidence, SOCOs generally operate
based on Locard’s Exchange Principle, which believes that any time somebody enters
