Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Criminal law qestion

If the police department has requested a document (invoice) for forensic examination in the proceedings of a criminal investigation, can the posessor of the document be charged with any sort of crime if they do not (out of fear that it will be misplaced, lost, or mishandled) relinquish that document?


Asked on 1/14/09, 6:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jacek W. Lentz Law Offices of Jacek W. Lentz

Re: Criminal law qestion

There is no crime unless the document has been lawfully subpoenaed and the court has ordered that it be produced. If the court so orders, the party withholding the document could be charged with contempt of court.

That said, if the party makes some false statements to the police in the attempt to withhold the document, he/she could potentially be charged with obstruction of justice type charge, like making false statements.

Hope this helps,

Jacek W. Lentz, Esq.

310.273.1361

www.lentzlawfirm.com

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Answered on 1/14/09, 9:57 pm


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