Tampering with evidence

Tampering with evidence, or evidence tampering, is an act in which a person alters, conceals, falsifies, or destroys evidence with the intent to interfere with an investigation (usually) by a law-enforcement, governmental, or regulatory authority.^[1] It is a criminal offense in many jurisdictions.

Tampering with evidence is closely related to the legal issue of spoliation of evidence, which is usually the civil law or due process version of the same concept (but may itself be a crime). Tampering with evidence is also closely related to obstruction of justice / perverting the course of justice, and these two kinds of crimes are often charged together. The goal of tampering with evidence is usually to cover up a crime.

By law enforcement

When police confiscate and destroy a citizen's photographs or recordings of officers' misconduct, the police's act of destroying the evidence may be prosecuted as an act of evidence tampering, if the recordings being destroyed are potential evidence in a criminal or regulatory investigation of the officers themselves.^[2] In a notable case in Nebraska, officers were charged with the felony charge of evidence tampering, as well as misdemeanor obstruction and theft, when they committed brutality and forcibly stole and destroyed the recordings, which was exposed due to a third party's recording.^[3] On the other hand, when police departments lose exonerating evidence that would create reasonable doubt for defendants in the cases they prosecute, such as dashboard-camera footage from patrol cars, it may be regarded as spoliation of evidence, potentially justifying motions to dismiss and/or mistrials. Police's loss of evidence such as footage may be considered as both spoliation and tampering, if it both exonerates the defendant and proves police misconduct. Spoliation of exonerating evidence in criminal cases may also constitute prosecutorial misconduct if the prosecutor is complicit in doing so.

References

This article about a criminal law topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] ttp://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Tampering-with-evidence.htm

[2] ttps://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers

[3] ttps://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-criminal-law-reform/hidden-third-cameraman-proves-crucial-nebraska-photographer

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v t e Miscarriage of justice
Types of misconduct	Prosecutorial misconduct Police misconduct Selective prosecution Malicious prosecution Selective enforcement Abuse of process Attorney misconduct Abuse of discretion Entrapment False arrest Gaming the system Legal malpractice Kangaroo court Sharp practice Jury tampering Witness tampering Brady disclosure Spoliation of evidence
False evidence	Forced confession False accusation of rape False allegation of child sexual abuse Police perjury False accusation Mistaken identity Eyewitness memory Misinformation effect Tampering with evidence
Wrongful convictions	List of wrongful convictions in the United States List of exonerated death row inmates Miscarriage of justice List of miscarriage of justice cases Overturned convictions in the United States Wrongful execution
Advocacy	Innocence Project National Registry of Exonerations Investigating Innocence
Related concepts	Legal ethics Exculpatory evidence Right to a fair trial Race in the United States criminal justice system Capital punishment in the United States Innocent prisoner's dilemma Racial profiling Loophole Ineffective assistance of counsel Show trial Actual innocence Cross-race effect Eyewitness memory Eyewitness identification Equal Protection Clause Batson v. Kentucky List of United States death row inmates Prosecutor's fallacy Innocence Protection Act

Tampering with evidence

By law enforcement

See also

References

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