ESSAY : Revise and amend of Week 4 Key Assignment

Assignment Objectives:

Apply the laws of evidence to a trial situation.

Apply the laws of evidence to the investigation of a case.

Apply the laws of evidence to the various stages of
prosecution of a case.

Characterize different categories of evidence.

Identify the formal rules of evidence used in the criminal justice system.

Assignment Guidelines:

Revise and amend your Week 4 Key Assignment by adding what you learned in the Discussion Board posts following the task, as well as taking into consideration your instructor’s comments.

Address the following, and add your responses to your Key Assignment final draft:

What are the purposes of DNA testing? Explain in detail.

Provide examples where necessary.

What is law enforcement’s role in making DNA testing possible today when it was not possible 15-20 years ago? Explain.

Provide examples when necessary.

Discuss how the best evidence rule can come into play when dealing with DNA evidence.

Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.
Week 4 KEY ASSIGNMENT OUTLINE

1. Introduction on best evidence rule

2. Importance of the best evidence rule.

3. Review of the Goldman v. United States case in regards to wiretapping.

4. Review of the Katz v. United States case in regards to wiretapping.

5. Wiretapping restrictions today.

6. Packaging of evidence obtained through wiretapping.

7. Analyzing possible outcomes of the case in the case study provided.

THE BEST EVIDENCE RULE.

1. The best evidence rule in most cases applies when the prosecutor or an individual uses a copy of a document or a recording of audio or video to use the content in it as evidence against the defendant in a court of law.

2. In the United States, one is required to present an understandable reason as to why the original of the evidence presented is not available.

3. With a valid and reasonable reason, the judge can grant permission for the duplicate to be presented instead. It only applies where an original document of the evidence is available and can be obtained.

4. Duplicates in court are only allowed in certain circumstances like if the original is lost and cannot be obtained, if the original copy of the piece of evidence is in possession of the opponent, when the document or recording or photograph is of official or public nature and if it is not directly related to the case in question.

5. This rule protects from fraud, people forging documents and presenting them in court as duplicates of an original document. In the 1800s at some point the only evidence that would have been accepted in court was live testimony to make sure that the evidence being used to convict was absolutely right

6. This rule was designed in a way that ensures it is applied to cases dealing with certain matters.

7. The court then decided to make an exception for business records to be accepted in court as evidence but only if they were the original documents.

WIRETAPPING.

1. Listening in on people’s conversations illegally.

2. However, it can be done as a form of obtaining evidence for criminal cases. In the cases reviewed above, the defendants are convicted mainly because of evidence presented against them by the government. Whereas this evidence is obtained through wiretapping, it was still accepted in court. This begs the question, where do we draw the line on acceptable wiretapping? In the United States currently, the National Security Agency collects records of people making calls and sending messages on their mobile phones or even data on internet searches.

3. NSA however defends their actions by stating that they collect this data in order to protect against terrorism. In this case, are the rights of U.S citizens of privacy being violated? Can this data obtained through monitoring the citizens be used in a court as evidence against a citizen facing criminal charges?

4. How far does the Fourth Amendment go in terms of protecting the citizens against violation of privacy? During trial, a citizen can claim that the evidence is illegally obtained but, in most cases, where the government is the prosecutor, these claims may fail to be valid and upheld by the court.

5. References to all sources.
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What fallows is my Unit 4 IP, and then my Profors feedback.
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What is the best evidence rule?

The “best evidence rule” is a rule of evidence whereby a photograph or document presented in court is required to be original (Ford, 2014). This rule has been present and common since the 18th century where evidence was not allowed unless it was the best that the nature of the case would allow.

Why was the best evidence rule implemented in the U.S court system?

This rule was implemented in the U.S to ensure evidence used in a court is not altered and that it is perceivable and clear when it comes to recordings (Miller, 2014). The rule was implemented back in the day when copies of documents were handmade and there was no electronic copying. Therefore, it was easy for one to make a copy of a document or even forge one. The evidence rule was implemented to protect against fraud.

Rationale behind its application?

To avoid the inaccuracies that came with these handmade copies, the best evidence rule was implemented. In today’s court, this rule is still used to prevent use of duplicates that are not accurate, to act as reliable evidence in case the human memory fails and parties involved can’t recall exactly the contents of the original evidence. It is also in place to allow for copies when originals no longer exist.

Goldman v. United States.

Wiretapping is also known as telephone tapping is the monitoring of conversations held over the phone or the internet by a third party with ill intentions. In the case of Goldman v U.S, federal agents used a detectaphone to obtain information from Goldman’s office through the adjoining office. The agents were able to listen in on conversations in the office and therefore had evidence against Goldman. Despite the obtaining of evidence through wiretapping, it was considered to be admissible in court because it did not violate the Fourth Amendment. This led to the conviction of Martin Goldman and his fellow attorney for conspiracy to infringe the Bankruptcy Act. Martin Goldman was planning on defrauding creditors and divide the money between him and his fellow lawyer.

Katz v. United States.

In the case of Katz v U.S, he was convicted by the court under the charge of transmitting wagering information by telephone across different states, hence violating a federal statue. However, when the government introduced evidence of Katz’s conversation of over the phone, Katz opposed by claiming that the evidence was obtained illegally and that the government had invaded his right to privacy when the FBI agents attached a data collection gadget on the outside part of the telephone booth that he was using. The court stated that there was actually no infringement of the Fourth Amendment and that the evidence was allowable in court because there was no physical entrance of the government in the telephone booth (Carter & Burke, 2017).

Current Status of Wiretapping Restrictions.

Wiretapping is a form of surveillance where the government or individuals monitor an individual or their calls and private conversations, to use them as evidence in criminal investigations (Rubinstein, 2018). Wiretapping laws bring about various issues about the privacy rights of an individual. There is a thin line between these laws and privacy rights and in what situations can someone claim violation of constitutional rights when involved in a criminal investigation. According to these two cases, the defendants were both convicted due to evidence from wiretapping with the court denying that there was no violation of rights involved. In most cases we find that the court is most likely going to accept evidence obtain through wiretapping even though illegally, as long as it’s the government that was actually doing the eavesdropping through agents like the FBI.

Packaging and Preserving Evidence in Wiretapping Cases

When it comes to evidence that has been obtained through wiretapping, all evidence to be presented in the court has to pass through a chain of custody. Tape recordings should be sealed until the magistrate/judge opens them to inspect them and then issue a sealing order on the tapes, where they are now sealed till presentation in court. Recordings can easily be altered and therefore if they are not sealed as required, they may be considered to be inadmissible in court.

Wiretapping “Fruits of Poisonous Tree”

The Fourth amendment protects us all from searches and seizures without permission from the court and also from violation of our rights especially right of privacy (Chan, Kim & Wagman, 2018). Therefore, evidence that is obtained through wiretapping while violating the Fourth Amendment is considered inadmissible in court. The court cannot use evidence obtained illegally to convict someone as this evidence is considered to be the fruit of the poisonous tree.

Likely Outcome of the Case

In this case, if the original tapes were not well sealed as required and the only copies available are barely audible or clear. Therefore, the judge is likely to rule to have the case thrown out because of lack of proper evidence and mishandling and absence of original evidence. However, we could plead our case as to how the original evidence was lost with the judge and present my working copies that I have since they are more audible than those of the AUSA. If the judge accepts these duplicates, under the best evidence rule, as evidence we then have a chance to win the case.

References

Carter, L., & Burke, T. (2017). Reason in law. Routledge.

Chan, J., Kim, J. H., & Wagman, L. (2018). Criminal Justice and Wiretap Surveillance. Available at SSRN 2994407.

Ford, C. (2014). What the Best Evidence Rule is-and what it isn\’t. Mont. Law., 40, 22.

Miller, C. (2014). Contents May Have Shifted: Disentangling the Best Evidence Rule from the Rule Against Hearsay. Wash. & Lee L. Rev. Online, 71, 186.

Rubinstein, I. (2018). Federal and State Preemption of Local Privacy Regulation.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Part 2

What is the best evidence rule?

The “best evidence rule” is a rule of evidence whereby a photograph or document presented in court is required to be original (Ford, 2014). This rule has been present and common since the 18^th century where evidence was not allowed unless it was the best that the nature of the case would allow.

Why was the best evidence rule implemented in the U.S court system? This rule was implemented in the U.S to ensure evidence used in a court is not altered and that it is perceivable and clear when it comes to recordings (Miller, 2014). The rule was implemented back in the day when copies of documents were handmade and there was no electronic copying. Therefore, it was easy for one to make…