Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts
Procedural protections
Lets say police arrest ''Mike'' and
accuse him of breaking into a video
store and stealing 25 video cameras.
The police lawfully stopped Mike's car,
which ha a broken tail light and
found two video cameras on the front
seat. When he was arrested by the
police, what procedural protections
are available to Mike? If mike's
defence lawyer asks to exclude the
evidence of the two video cameras
would he be successful? What is the
standard of proof in this burglary
case?
I would be very thankful for any help.
Best Regards,--name removed--
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Procedural protections
"Mike" should hire a very good criminal defense attorney. If the stop was lawful and if he was arrested with probable cause, then the inventory of the car is incident to arrest, and typically the police department's procedure, which would make the evidence available. However, those ifs are exactly why you need a very good criminal defense attorney that can distinguish what can and should be challenged form what should not be challenged. Not to mention the expertise necessary in making those challenges. I always advise that you should hire the best attorney that you can afford and this case is no different.