A short answer to the above-posed headline query in today’s blog post is this: You often don’t know, at least not immediately.
And that can obviously be troubling, as well as tremendously consequential, for any Colorado resident who is arrested and sought to be convicted in a criminal matter.
Police officers have tough jobs. We all know that. And the central fact that they are human means that they are not infallible and need to be held closely accountable in their work. As we note on our Denver criminal defense website at Shazam Kianpour & Associates, “Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail.”
Defense attorneys are not out to undermine the efforts and good-faith work done by law enforcers. Indeed, legal advocates work in tandem with other actors in the justice system, seeking to ensure fair and impartial outcomes in criminal actions.
Targeted suspects clearly have an unparalleled interest in such a result. After all, their lives are most dramatically affected by evidence that enforcement officials gather and seek to use in punitive fashion.
As such, it is imperative that evidence alleged to be incriminating be methodically and dispassionately examined in every instance by a criminal law attorney. When a prison term and/or other harsh exactions potentially await for a defendant, police conduct preceding a search and seizure of evidence that supports conviction is a proper focus for any proven advocate.
Put another way: Any adverse result rendered in a criminal matter that owes to bad-faith or negligent police conduct, or tainted evidence, must be spotlighted and condemned. Any other outcome spells a mockery of justice for a justice system that proudly touts fundamental fairness.
Proven criminal defense attorneys proudly play a role that is key in promoting just outcomes.