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Evidence-gathering guidelines dictate how law enforcement agencies may gather evidence to prove a felony or civil wrong. Different rules apply for collection of evidence in criminal and civil trials. In the US, the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, while civil cases follow rules relating to discovery.
Evidence-gathering guidelines refer to the legal rules of a jurisdiction that dictate how law enforcement agencies may gather evidence to prove the commission of a felony or the commission of a civil wrong. Evidence can be anything used to prove the guilt of an accused individual in criminal activity or in a civil suit. Different rules apply for the collection of evidence in criminal and civil trials in the United States, as well as many other countries.
In a criminal case, evidence is anything that proves one element of a crime. Evidence in a criminal case can be the gun used in a homicide, a vehicle with a bloodstain, DNA evidence, or a bag of drugs taken from the home of an accused drug dealer. It can also be something that by itself appears innocent, such as an ATM receipt, but demonstrates intent, motive, or some other aspect of a crime that the prosecutor must prove.
In the United States, the rules for gathering evidence in a criminal case are set out in the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment states: “The right of persons to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be infringed, and no Warrants shall be issued, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or statement, and in particular by describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized”.
This means that, when gathering evidence, law enforcement must obtain a warrant from a judge after probable cause has been proven. Other evidence rules that limit the collection of evidence may also apply. For example, rules within the United States dictate that anything found, even indirectly, as a result of a search or an illegal confession is barred from being heard in court, as it is “fruit of the tainted tree.”
In a civil case, the rules of gathering evidence are set by the rules relating to discovery. Discovery is the process by which the plaintiff and defendant exchange information necessary to prove the case or defend themselves against charges. The rules for discovery generally state that requests for documents must be reasonable; for example, in an effort to prove wrongful termination, an individual could reasonably request that the defendant turn in its performance reviews for the last ten years, but the individual could not request that the company turn in every written performance review for each individual employee in the company’s 100-year history, as such a request would be unreasonable.
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