Crime Scene Evidence

**michell** · 02-11-2006, 04:17 PM

Is crime scene evidence inadmissible if:

A person is allegedly a victim of a shooting at night. This person calls the police saying that they heard multiple shots (approximately 20) and the police arrive and take a statement. However, the crime scene is not assessed/no evidence collected at the time the police arrive and they tell the victim to call the crime scene unit if they 'find' any shell casings from the shooting the next day but, the police who arrived do not look for the evidence of a shooting when they arrive on the scene initially. The victim waits 2 days and then calls the crime scene unit and produces 9 shell casings that were supposedly apart of this shooting that happened 2 days prior. The casings are from 2 different types of guns. 1 from an M-1 semi-automatic weapon and 8 from a 9mm handgun. If a weapon shoots several times, why would there only be 1 bullet produced? Is this admissible? If yes, then how so? Doesn't it allow the victim to create something that probably wasn't there in the first place? Can we ensure that the crime scene people, who arrived 2 days later, are at our trial?

Please help,

Michell

**aaron** · 02-11-2006, 06:05 PM

The issues of whether those are the same bullets as were allegedly fired on the neight in question is likely one of weight, as opposed to admissibility. The bullets were found, and presumably ballistics evidence will match them to the defendant's firearms. The prosecutor would have the burden of proving that the defendant fired the bullets, and the defendant would be able to challenge both the ballistics evidence and explain alternate theories as to how the bullets came into the possession of the witness.

**michell** · 02-11-2006, 06:25 PM

You are good! Are you in my head? ;o) The prosecution doesn't have a firearm because this is a made up story by the witness. The trial is in a few months and they only have those bullets and this guy witness for their trial. The person who he says was with him when this happened has avoided the prosecution at all costs. She won't return their calls. She has yet to give a statement. Their is no signed statement in the discovery from the person who he says was there when this 'shooting' happened.

Thanks