Most people are shocked to find out how little evidence is necessary for sex crime investigations to become criminal cases. The State does not need scientific evidence, or independent evidence. In Bexar County, Texas (and everywhere else in the United States), all that is required to bring formal sex crime charges against someone is a standard called probable cause. While the accused is innocent until proven guilty at trial, people can be charged with crimes when law enforcement believes that it’s more likely than not that they are guilty. What often happens is someone will make an accusation. The police will be called and a detective who specializes in these kinds of cases will interview the alleged victim. In the case of a minor, they will take the child over to a Child Abuse Assessment Center, where another video interview will be conducted. The police will then ask themselves whether they believe the person who has been interviewed.
If they believe the person who has been interviewed, they will take a file with your name on it to the District Attorney’s office and they may ask a judge to issue an arrest warrant right away. One witness that a police officer believes is enough to bring charges against someone for any crime. A jury can find someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt with just the evidence of one witness whom they believe. Our job, in many cases, is to find out why this child is not telling the truth and what motivates the child for saying this. These are questions that we ask in our interview with our client and our interview with other people who may know the child. We ask these questions to determine whether or not this is a credible accusation or if it is something that has been made up in the mind of a child.
Law Enforcement In Bexar County Are Investigating My Loved One For A Sex Crime. How Long Before They Make An Arrest?
Sex crimes investigations are notoriously slow. This is often because police will not make an arrest while scientific evidence is still being tested, and these tests are often backlogged for months or even years. Still, if you have been accused of a sex crime you can’t afford to wait until the investigation is complete. Why? Because if you wait until a warrant has been issued the damage is already done. Once you are arrested for a sex crime in Bexar County, Texas you will have a criminal record as a sex offender. Additionally, you will have to abide by pre-trial conditions that might prevent you from living too close to a school, park or library. To avoid this, it is important to hire a criminal defense attorney early.
San Antonio recently had a situation where a detective was receiving these cases, taking evidence, destroying that evidence, and not bringing the files to the Bexar County District Attorney’s office. Because of this one detective, there was a tremendous backlog of sex crime cases. For that reason, it can take a long time before someone actually faces charges on a sex crimes case. Every case is different and each case moves at its own speed. It depends on the detective who receives the case, the District Attorney who gets the case from the detective, the witnesses, and how cooperative they are.
One of the things that we try to do is to slow down the process so that everyone can have as much time as possible to really look into these cases to make sure that the accusations are actually credible. It can take a significant amount of time. At the same time, it is very important that the accused be aggressive in hiring representation because, if the timeline is allowed to get away from him and he doesn’t have a representative putting forward his side of the story, he can be accused of something that may not be substantiated. Once he’s accused of it, it is very difficult to get that accusation off his record.
Can My San Antonio Sex Crimes Defense Attorney File Motions To Suppress Any Evidence Even Before Charges Are Filed In My Case?
One of the questions we ask is whether or not any of your constitutional rights were violated. As we’re asking those questions, we will determine whether or not it is appropriate to file a motion to suppress evidence. A common way for detectives to collect evidence in sex crime cases is to use search warrants. A search warrant has to be supported by an affidavit. The affidavit has to be true. We look at that affidavit and we ask ourselves whether it gives probable cause to, for instance, search someone’s cell phone, home, or vehicle. If the answer is no or the affidavit is based on information that the detective knew was false, we can use a motion to suppress evidence, so that the state cannot use that illegally obtained evidence against our client.
For more information on Sex Crime Cases With No Witnesses In Texas, a free strategy session is your best next step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (210) 361-3113 today.