Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: submitting evidence

You can't.

Re: submitting evidence

I disagree with the first attorney's answer.

First, I want to acknowledge that your concerns & interest in prosecuting this crime are noteworthy and laudible. But we (police and prosecutors) want to do things the right way so important evidence is not suppressed ("thrown out") later by a judge.

Second, a person CAN turn over to law enforcement items of physical evidence that the person believes are connected to a crime ... with a few "but"s to follow.

If you have a possessory / property interest in the items, then you have authority to do what you propose without question. If it's "yours", you can say to police, "Here, take my property because I think it is helpful evidence in a crime." It would be very unusual, to say the least, but you can do it. (Police might consult with their prosecutor before accepting the 'gift'.)

If you do NOT have a property / possessory interest in the items, then things get dicier because this stuff may be property of another person, and you cannot just (a) take and (b) give away another person's stuff.

If the 'stuff' has been abandoned by the owner, then NO ONE owns it, and you can take control of it and do with it what you want.

But what if this is someone else's property and has not been abandoned? A danger in this situation is that it may appear that you are acting as law enforcement's "agent", and doing something on their behalf or at their direction, or doing something that law enforcement could not lawfully do.

You think that the clothing was encompassed within a search warrant, and police did not take it? Maybe they did not know it was there TO take, or maybe it was seen and a decision was made to not take it because it was not part of the search warrant's terms, or was not relevant to the case.

A safe and lawful way to handle this is to leave the property where it is and tell the police what you have seen and where it is. They can get another warrant to go back to get that additional evidence that was overlooked ... but with a court's approval. This is by far the BEST way to handle the situation.

Another caution: Do not touch or move or handle the items!! Above all, DO NOT WASH THE CLOTHES! If this clothing has evidentiary value, your handling of it may compromize its evidentiary value. You might unintentionally contaminate it ... whereas police take precautions to NOT contaminate evidence so it can be later analyzed in a laboratory.