Henrico County Criminal Cases: The Prosecution

When an individual is charged with a crime in Henrico County, the burden falls on the prosecution to prove that the individual is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the defense’s job to fight the prosecution and weaken or nullify their arguments. There are many ways a Henrico County criminal defense lawyer can fight a prosecutor’s points or evidence. Call today to schedule a consultation with a Henrico County criminal defense lawyer and begin crafting your defense.

What the Prosecution Must Prove

The prosecution very simply has to show beyond a reasonable doubt that a violation of a law occurred, that it occurred in the county of Henrico. Then they must show that all the elements of that crime took place.

Proving the Elements of a Given Offense

The elements of a crime are the requirements to show a violation law occurred. Elements, for example, would be the need to show the intent to commit a crime was present, showing that a serious injury incurred (in the case of certain crimes against the person), or maybe proving the value of an item whether it’s under $250 or over $250 (in the case of larceny). And the prosecution has to show all of these elements to in fact show that a crime was committed and that a violation of a law occurred.

How Prosecution Attempts To Prove Their Case

Prosecution goes about proving their case in a number of ways. What they will do is provide the testimony of the complainant or the officer. They will testify as to whether it was firsthand observations as to what they saw or what they were told by the defendant. They will also attempt to provide physical evidence whether it would be photos or written statements related to the crime.

In addition, scientific evidence can be presented showing the results of a drug analysis, DNA, or hair samples. They will typically collect the evidence through multiple sources whether the officers and witnesses and try and present that to a judge or a jury to get a conviction.

Collecting Evidence

Prosecution goes about collecting evidence by a number of ways. They use officers to collect statements from witnesses or even the defendants and investigators will also attempt to collect physical evidence whether it’d be DNA samples or other evidence connecting the defendant to crime. They also use the services of the Department of Forensic Science to do drug analysis or DNA analysis, which can all be used in court to prove their case.

Refuting the Prosecution’s Evidence

A criminal defense attorney in Henrico attempts to refute the evidence in a number of ways. First and foremost is primarily by cross-examining the witnesses and challenging the evidence. You want to be able to challenge:

• How the evidence was obtained
• How the evidence was handled
• The results of any evidence that is provided. (In other words, if it is DNA sample you can challenge the results of that through your own evidence or challenge how that sample is handled)

What a defense attorney can also do is challenge the integrity of any witnesses that are there to testify against the defendant whether they saw what they say they saw or whether they may have ulterior motives to testify.

An attorney can also challenge the truthfulness of that testimony by impeaching their testimony if they have lied previously under oath or if they have felony convictions. Next, what the defense attorney wants to do is present their own witnesses and their own evidence, if they can.