Despite being incomprehensible, a false accusation of a crime does happen. It occurs when someone gets accused of a crime they did not commit or may even have anything to do with.
A person can be falsely accused of any crime category, including rape, assault, and arson. Some of the various reasons are mistaken identity, misrecollection, malicious false accusations, official misconduct, and misleading forensic evidence.
Have You Been Accused Or Charged With Committing A Serious Crime?
If, unfortunately, you find yourself being falsely charged with a crime, and even worse, there is no guarantee that the charges will be dismissed, immediate action is needed to protect yourself. Otherwise, your entire future may be in jeopardy.
However, don’t freak out. You are at the right place. Read through some ways provided below that may help you protect yourself in this catastrophic situation.
4 Important Advice To Take When Being Wrongly Accused
1. Hire A Defense Attorney
Despite being sure that you are innocent, it’s still a sophisticated task of fighting for your rights without thoroughly knowing how to proceed or what your legal rights are.
Thus, the first and foremost step should be to remain silent and retain an experienced criminal defence attorney who has handled cases similar to yours.
A lawyer who will leave no stone unturned is vital to help you develop a strategy to fight the charges you face or could face. Not only do skilled attorneys from a Wichita law firm work vigorously to protect your legal rights, but they also come up with the best advice for an accused to determine appropriate things to do. An accused should never immediately deny the need for a lawyer just because he knows he is innocent. Since the whole process of proving your innocence may be overwhelming without professional help.
Below are some situations that require even a greater need for a defence attorney:
- discussion with prosecutors on errors in criminal charges
- hostile accusers and witnesses
- false or misleading evidence
- pleas of guilty to lesser offences.
2. Conduct A Pre-file Investigation
A pre-file investigation should occur when a law firm investigates allegations of a crime and before criminal charges are filed. Your attorney will conduct a thorough investigation of the crime and the prosecutor’s evidence, interview witnesses, and retain expert witnesses if necessary.
An investigation can help evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the prosecutor’s case and gather favourable evidence for an accused. Here are some practices you can take to help speed up the process:
- Gather any relevant physical evidence such as clothing, photographs, or other objects that could benefit your defence. Try to collect and give them to your attorney as soon as possible.
- Also, collect the necessary documentation, including correspondence, emails, receipts, GPS data, or other information to prove where you were when the crime was committed.
- Make a list of potential witnesses from whom you can get helpful details about the incident, accusations, and the victim. It’s indispensable in this stage to collect information on an accuser to cast doubts on their credibility.
3. Impeach The Accuser
The process of impeaching the accuser typically occurs at trial during cross-examination. Your defence lawyer will ask witnesses for facts they know that reflect poorly on the accuser’s reputation for truthfulness.
Now that you and your attorney have a thorough investigation into the case, it’s time to bring the evidence to light to undermine the accuser’s credibility. Present all types of evidence that illustrate the accuser is not truthful or knowledgeable on a topic.
4. File A Civil Lawsuit For Malicious Prosecution
A malicious prosecution claim is designed for the injured party to chase after people who file frivolous lawsuits, consequently causing damages. To succeed in the suit, the plaintiff then has to prove three points:
- They claim the defendant filed against the plaintiff is frivolous
- The lawsuit was filed not to win but rather for some other purpose (like harassment)
- The plaintiff suffered damages as a result.
If all of these are proven, the plaintiff may be officially declared innocent and be compensated for any incurred damages. The compensation includes economic damages like attorney fees and medical costs, defamation, and embarrassment.
Protect Yourself
Being falsely accused of an extreme crime has an immensely adverse impact on your life, especially if such serious events happen suddenly.
As a consequence, there might be impulsive decisions that put you in a disadvantageous position. Hence, it’s crucial to be aware of what not to do when facing false accusations. Some certain actions that could worsen the situation include:
- Destroy evidence that you assume could hurt you
- Talk to the police, prosecutor, or criminal investigator or consent to a DNA or other test requested by the police without your attorney present.
Keep in mind that you should always consult an attorney before taking any serious action to ensure your rights and the claim’s final result.