If an officer randomly stops a person or a car or makes a stop because of the driver's race, the stop is illegal and violates the person's constitutional rights. Illegal Stop or SearchĪ law enforcement officer can only stop a vehicle or a person on the street under certain circumstances, such as if the driver is speeding or violating other traffic laws or the police officer reasonably suspects a crime is being committed. If the officer retires or leaves his job before the error is discovered or is unavailable for some other reason and no other officer was involved in the case, the prosecutor may have to dismiss the complaint. The officer who wrote and signed the complaint, under oath, must make those changes. If the complaint does not comply with state or local law because of a significant error or omission, the prosecutor cannot simply edit the document by hand and submit it to the court. State and local law direct what information a complaint or charging document must contain. When a law enforcement officer writes a criminal complaint or charging document, the officer must sign the document under oath, attesting to the truthfulness of the contents. If, however, the prosecutor obtains other substantial evidence that tends to prove that the defendant robbed the store, the prosecutor can refile the charges or possibly avoid a dismissal. If the officer arrested a person hiding in a doorway near the liquor store without any physical description from a witness or other basis to believe the person committed the crime, the officer made the arrest without probable cause and the charges may be dismissed. If the officer sees a person matching that description hiding in a doorway down the street, she likely has probable cause to arrest. For instance, after the liquor store robbery, an eyewitness to the robbery describes the robber to the police officer as a person wearing a red jacket with a dragon emblem and carrying a knife with a long blade and black handle. The officer must have a reasonable belief based on objective, factual circumstances. A police officer can't arrest a person simply because he has a gut feeling the person just robbed the liquor store down the street. In order to arrest a person, police must have probable cause to believe that the person committed a crime. Let's review how these situations might play out. loss of evidence necessary to prove the defendant committed the crime.an unavailable witness who is necessary to prove the defendant committed the crime, and.lack of evidence to prove the defendant committed the crime.an improper criminal complaint or charging document.And, generally, the first task for a defense attorney in a criminal case is to determine whether there are any grounds on which the case could be dismissed before a plea or trial. Many cases end up being dismissed by the prosecutor or the court. Not every defendant who faces criminal charges will proceed to trial or a plea.
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