Evidence in a Maryland Gun Investigation

Evidence is instrumental to any criminal case, especially in gun investigations. Both the prosecution and the defense need evidence to build and validate their arguments. When collecting evidence in a Maryland gun investigation, law enforcement often proceeds with caution because evidence that is collected in a manner that violates an individual’s rights can be ejected from the case. If an individual wants to know more about evidence in gun investigations, they should consult a knowledgeable gun attorney.

Types of Evidence Collected in Maryland Gun Investigations

The type of evidence collected in a gun investigation would depend on the crime that allegedly was committed. Usually, if it is alleged that the gun was used in the commission of other crime, then the police may be searching for other pieces of evidence, like looking to collect the alleged victim’s property from the defendant’s house or the defendant’s car. Usually, the evidence that they are hoping to find is the gun. Officers will perform searches of a person’s car or home with the hopes that they are going to find the gun.

Sometimes, depending on what the person is charged with, the other evidence that the state has to collect is a proof that the person is not allowed to possess a gun in the first place. Some people are prohibited from possessing a firearm. There are statutes in Maryland that define who is a prohibited person. They are prohibited typically because of something in their past and their criminal history. The police officer has to collect whatever paperwork shows that this person is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Evidence to Collect to Prove Someone is a Prohibited Person

If a police offer wants to prove that the accused is a prohibited person, then they would need to gather the paperwork, which is usually in the possession of the state, to show that the person is not supposed to possess a firearm. The police also can use a search and seizure warrant. That is a go-to tool that officers use when they want to search someone’s home, business, or a place that a person has a connection to.

Methods of Collecting Evidence

It is not usual for police to utilize tools like a search and seizure warrant or a directed traffic stop when collecting evidence in a Maryland gun investigation. Law enforcement’s priority is to collect evidence in a manner that is as effective and also as aboveboard as possible, in order to avoid compromising evidence and the case.

Directed Traffic Stops

There is also what some people call a directed traffic stop, which means that they want to be able to search the vehicle, but they have to find the legitimate reason to stop the vehicle first and then attempt to conduct a search of the vehicle. They will pull the car over for conducting a traffic violation, but it has nothing to do with wanting to write that person a speeding citation, It is about the fact that they want to be able to come up with a reason to search the car.

Warrants

Officers oftentimes will choose these warrant, because they know that if they take those steps, go through the process of writing a request for a warrant and having it signed off by a judge, then generally if they find any evidence as a result of that search, they have done everything they are supposed to do and that evidence should be admissible against the defendant. The officer can get a warrant for the car and collect evidence in a Maryland gun investigation that way.