If found guilty, you might be required to register as a sex offender. This status can often come with restrictions that can severely limit life enjoyment.
However, not all sex crimes are straightforward, and everyone deserves a fair chance against unfair prosecution. If you’ve found yourself in a situation of having your life turned upside down by sex crime allegations, your chosen lawyer might recommend some of these defence strategies:
Use the Accuser’s Motives
Someone being accused of a sex crime doesn’t mean they’re guilty of it. If the accuser has a motive for making the claim, inform your sex crime lawyer. They can learn more about the accuser’s motives and credibility, potentially questioning their reliability. Your lawyer might also ask what the accuser stands to gain from having the defendant charged with a crime. Adding a layer of doubt to the case might be all it takes to weaken the state’s case.
Stay Silent
Under criminal law, we have the right to remain silent when we’re accused of a crime. Your lawyer will typically encourage you to do just that, even if you think that trying to clear your name will benefit your case.
Talking to police, investigators, or other professionals means that anything you say can be used against you in court. Even if your words are seemingly innocent, there are no guarantees that law enforcement won’t twist them to use them against you. After being arrested for a sex crime, call your preferred lawyer and wait for their instructions. They’ll likely tell you to remain silent until they reach your location.
Focus On Forensic Evidence
Law enforcement might be relying on forensic evidence to make their case. However, even the slightest error made with this evidence might create doubt in a judge and jury regarding guilt.
Your lawyer might recommend examining the forensic evidence in great detail to identify any defects in how the evidence was collected, analyzed, or stored. If any problems are found with the chain of custody, it might be enough to have particular forms of evidence suppressed or dismissed.
Provide an Alibi
No one can be in two places at once. If you’re being accused of a sex crime at a particular time on a specific day, provide an alibi that shows you couldn’t have committed the crime. The more evidence and testimonies you have to prove you were elsewhere, the weaker the prosecutor’s case might be.
Cite a Lack of Evidence
Sex offence cases aren’t a free-for-all for alleged victims. They, like the accused, must follow specific rules. These rules include filing a motion to describe the evidence and its purpose. As a result, your lawyer has access to the evidence provided by law enforcement. After examining the evidence, you might learn that they don’t have much to tie you to the crime. Citing a lack of evidence might highlight the case’s weakness.
Just because you’re accused of a crime doesn’t mean you must be found guilty. Your chosen sex crime lawyer will fight for your right to a fair legal process, including using some of these common defence strategies above.
