Investigations and Evidence
Evidence Must Survive the Courtroom
Investigations questions test the chain between the scene and the verdict.
Concepts: direct versus circumstantial evidence, remembering that circumstantial proof is legally sufficient. Corpus delicti requires the body of the crime to be established by evidence independent of the defendant's own statement. Chain of custody documents every transfer. Package biological evidence in paper to prevent mold, keep items in separate containers, and never commingle. Secure the scene, keep a scene log, and photograph before anything is moved. Distinguish an admission from a confession.
Identification procedures are heavily tested: double-blind administration, sequential presentation, fillers that do not make the suspect stand out, and a non-suggestive admonition that the perpetrator may or may not be present. Showups require close temporal and geographic proximity to the offense.
Interviews and reports: ask open questions first, record spontaneous statements verbatim, and recognize the excited utterance exception (a startling event plus a statement made while under the stress of it). Documentation supports Brady obligations, since exculpatory evidence must be preserved and disclosed.
Traps: a fact pattern where the only proof of the crime is the suspect's confession, which fails corpus delicti; suggestive lineup language; and evidence collected but never logged.
Rule of thumb: for every item, ask who touched it, when, and where it is now.
Worked example: A suspect confesses to arson, but no fire was ever established by independent evidence. The confession alone cannot prove the corpus delicti.