Surveillance Evidence in New Canaan Criminal Mischief Cases
Surveillance evidence in New Canaan criminal mischief cases is commonly used to show who committed the damage to the property. Sometimes, the police department will receive a complaint of criminal mischief or damage to the property and they will investigate. They will look into surveillance footage of the area and that can help with their investigation to determine who committed the crime.
In some cases, there is no surveillance evidence to show that the defendant committed the crime. This gives a top CT criminal defense attorney an opportunity to challenge the prosecution’s case.
Elements of a Criminal Mischief Case in New Canaan
In order to secure a conviction on a criminal mischief charge, the prosecution must prove three elements:
- The defendant damaged property
- The defendant intended to cause damage
- The defendant had no reasonable grounds to believe they had the right to damage property
In New Canaan and throughout Connecticut, there does not actually have to be significant damage to property for someone to be arrested. A person can still be charged with criminal mischief if there is some tangible form of damage to the property that can be proven by the state’s attorney.
Role of Electronic Surveillance Evidence
Electronic surveillance evidence can be extremely important to a person’s case. If a person is innocent, the footage can show that they were not the one committing the crime. If the security footage does not show the person’s face or it does not show the actual crime occurring, it can be extremely helpful when negotiating the case with the state’s attorney because the state does not have the best evidence to file a case. If there is surveillance footage out there and it does not show the defendant committing the crime, it is likely that a jury would acquit them if the case ever went to trial.
Preserving the Evidence
An experienced lawyer who is aware of electronic surveillance evidence can ask the judge for a court order to preserve the footage. The attorney will then bring that order to whoever is in possession of the electronic surveillance evidence and tell them that under court order the evidence must be preserved, or they must make reasonable efforts to preserve it. Sometimes that means copying security surveillance footage onto a CD-ROM and presenting it to the defense attorney into the court.
Essentially, once there is a signed court order by the judge, the defense counsel will serve the order on the keeper of evidence. With a court order, they are legally required to do all they can to preserve the footage and to provide it to the defense counsel.
Contact a Top CT Criminal Mischief Attorney
If you have questions about the role of surveillance evidence in New Canaan criminal mischief cases, you should reach out to an experienced defense lawyer as soon as possible. An attorney could carefully scrutinize the evidence against you to poke holes in the prosecution’s case. They could fight tirelessly for an optimum outcome on your behalf. Call today to schedule a case review.