Tweet
If falsely accused - securing of evidence
If you, or someone you know, are unlucky enough to be accused of any sexual offence, be it recent or from years ago, bear in mind that police have the authority to seize any items which they deem relevant. This means that you must try to make sure evidence which can help your case does not end up in the hands of the police. Police can often be dishonest and they will "conveniently lose" items which are unhelpful to their case, but crucial to yours.
This will also include items which are not relevant to the accusation in question. For instance, you may be accused of a rape from years ago, but police will seize any items in the hope that there may be more recent offences for which you may be charged, such as Indecent Images. (Before you think it can't happen to you, most adult porn sites will contain images of Under 18s mixed in, and images only have to appear on your screen to be classed as downloaded. You don't actually have to "Right Click & Save As" to unwittingly commit the offence of downloading illegal material.)
What police will typically seize:
• Mobile phones
• Computers, Laptops, Netbooks and iPads
• Re-writeable CDs and DVDs, Flash Drives, USB Memory Sticks, SD- and MicroSD cards
• Digital photo frames
• Digital cameras
• Digital camcorders and video cameras
• External hard drives, both functional and stored
• Keyring digital photo viewers
• iPods, as they can store images and videos
Some top of the range TVs also have built-in computers. These may also be seized.
ADVICE
Digital data
If you have been arrested already, then police may already have seized items. If they have not, then rest assured they will be back to do so. This means that if you have any of the above items which may hold evidence relevant to your case and in your favour - documents, phone call recordings, photos of text messages, MSN Messages, videos - then copy that information onto CD or memory stick, and store it away from your house. Give it to friends/family to look after.
As a last resort, if you have a Windows Live Hotmail email account, then under the Windows Live logo you have a facility called Skydrive, whereby you can upload up to 25GB of data for storage in your account. It can be accessed from any location you can access your email (internet café etc) and also means your solicitor could access it should you be remanded.
The bottom line is that if you have evidence which could help your case, then make copies of it, store them safely, and give copies to your solicitor as soon as possible.
MSN Messenger/Instant Messenger
If you have had any contact with your accuser via MSN Messenger or IM, or you receive any after any accusation, then you need to ensure that you have a copy of all conversations and correspondence received.
It gives more credibility if you can show all History, not just that of your accuser, so that nothing can be invented either before or after certain dates.
MSN Messenger Log is the program which stores all previous conversation history, and is typically an “Excel .xml” file found at:
C:\Documents and Settings\--Computer User Name--\My Documents\My Received Files\-- MSN messenger User Name --\History
Depending upon which version of MSN Messenger you are using (pre-2007 or post-2007), the location may also be found at:
C:\Documents and Settings\<your account name>\Local Settings\History
It is very important to keep an original copy of this Messenger Log, as the author knows of a case whereby the Other Party fabricated a Word Document purporting to show a Messenger Log, which contained fictitious threats, and was successfully passed off as a genuine Log.
Police will not check the authenticity of such fabrications, and a standard solicitor may not have the intelligence to instruct an IT expert from the Register of Experts, especially if the cost comes out of the solicitor’s overall income from your case.
Mobile Phones
It varies from one phone provider to the next, but information may be stored partly on the phone, the sim card or with the network provider itself. Having evidence on the phone in your possession is the best scenario possible, but do appreciate that if the police have your phone then you will have to settle for second best, which is better than having no evidence at all.
If you should receive any text contact from your accuser, take photographs of the texts on your phone, so that if the phone should be seized all is not lost. Store taken photos on digital media or prints away from the home.
Similarly with any voicemail contact. Try to make a recording of it and store safely. Be aware that your phone could be seized at any time from initial arrest until trial, so just because you’ve been arrested and had one phone seized it doesn’t mean subsequent phones (and evidence) are therefore safe.
Security
On the subject of securing evidence, let's discuss not giving evidence away either. If you use Facebook or any other social network, ideally remove any images of you or ensure your privacy settings make it impossible for anyone to gain information. If you should be unlucky enough to be charged, journalists may well inspect your Facebook pages for any photographs of you that they could use in an article.
This will also include items which are not relevant to the accusation in question. For instance, you may be accused of a rape from years ago, but police will seize any items in the hope that there may be more recent offences for which you may be charged, such as Indecent Images. (Before you think it can't happen to you, most adult porn sites will contain images of Under 18s mixed in, and images only have to appear on your screen to be classed as downloaded. You don't actually have to "Right Click & Save As" to unwittingly commit the offence of downloading illegal material.)
What police will typically seize:
• Mobile phones
• Computers, Laptops, Netbooks and iPads
• Re-writeable CDs and DVDs, Flash Drives, USB Memory Sticks, SD- and MicroSD cards
• Digital photo frames
• Digital cameras
• Digital camcorders and video cameras
• External hard drives, both functional and stored
• Keyring digital photo viewers
• iPods, as they can store images and videos
Some top of the range TVs also have built-in computers. These may also be seized.
ADVICE
Digital data
If you have been arrested already, then police may already have seized items. If they have not, then rest assured they will be back to do so. This means that if you have any of the above items which may hold evidence relevant to your case and in your favour - documents, phone call recordings, photos of text messages, MSN Messages, videos - then copy that information onto CD or memory stick, and store it away from your house. Give it to friends/family to look after.
As a last resort, if you have a Windows Live Hotmail email account, then under the Windows Live logo you have a facility called Skydrive, whereby you can upload up to 25GB of data for storage in your account. It can be accessed from any location you can access your email (internet café etc) and also means your solicitor could access it should you be remanded.
The bottom line is that if you have evidence which could help your case, then make copies of it, store them safely, and give copies to your solicitor as soon as possible.
MSN Messenger/Instant Messenger
If you have had any contact with your accuser via MSN Messenger or IM, or you receive any after any accusation, then you need to ensure that you have a copy of all conversations and correspondence received.
It gives more credibility if you can show all History, not just that of your accuser, so that nothing can be invented either before or after certain dates.
MSN Messenger Log is the program which stores all previous conversation history, and is typically an “Excel .xml” file found at:
C:\Documents and Settings\--Computer User Name--\My Documents\My Received Files\-- MSN messenger User Name --\History
Depending upon which version of MSN Messenger you are using (pre-2007 or post-2007), the location may also be found at:
C:\Documents and Settings\<your account name>\Local Settings\History
It is very important to keep an original copy of this Messenger Log, as the author knows of a case whereby the Other Party fabricated a Word Document purporting to show a Messenger Log, which contained fictitious threats, and was successfully passed off as a genuine Log.
Police will not check the authenticity of such fabrications, and a standard solicitor may not have the intelligence to instruct an IT expert from the Register of Experts, especially if the cost comes out of the solicitor’s overall income from your case.
Mobile Phones
It varies from one phone provider to the next, but information may be stored partly on the phone, the sim card or with the network provider itself. Having evidence on the phone in your possession is the best scenario possible, but do appreciate that if the police have your phone then you will have to settle for second best, which is better than having no evidence at all.
If you should receive any text contact from your accuser, take photographs of the texts on your phone, so that if the phone should be seized all is not lost. Store taken photos on digital media or prints away from the home.
Similarly with any voicemail contact. Try to make a recording of it and store safely. Be aware that your phone could be seized at any time from initial arrest until trial, so just because you’ve been arrested and had one phone seized it doesn’t mean subsequent phones (and evidence) are therefore safe.
Security
On the subject of securing evidence, let's discuss not giving evidence away either. If you use Facebook or any other social network, ideally remove any images of you or ensure your privacy settings make it impossible for anyone to gain information. If you should be unlucky enough to be charged, journalists may well inspect your Facebook pages for any photographs of you that they could use in an article.