If you are facing criminal charges, and one of the strongest pieces of evidence against you is a security video, you are going to want your attorney to work and try to get the evidence suppressed or thrown out of court. Here are three different strategies that your attorney can use to get security videos thrown out of court.
#1 Wrong Time Stamps
One of the easiest ways to get the video thrown out is by examining the time stamp on the video. Do not assume that the time stamp on the video is correct. Make sure that you and your attorney carefully watch the video and check the time stamp. If the time stamp is off by even an hour, because of failure to change the time stamp due to daylight savings times, you could get the evidence dismissed in court because of this inaccuracy.
Oftentimes, the time stamp on security videos is off by far more than an hour, or the date is different. It may be the right date but a different year or the wrong date altogether. If this information is wrong, it doesn't prove their case. Depending on the time stamp, you could even use it to prove that you didn't commit the crime as described by the prosecution.
#2 Color Issues
Many low-budget security cameras have issues with picking up colors accurately. These cameras, that you can pick up at your local electronic store, often use imaging chips that don't accurately pick up colors. These chips often can't tell the difference between similar colors, such as blues and greens or reds and yellows, depending on the time of day. This can result in colors that are not accurate, which can distort the validity of the video. If the colors that a person is wearing are manipulated or unclear due to the quality of the video footage, your attorney may be able to get the video thrown out as poor evidence, or be able to dispute the validity in court should it be allowed.
#3 Quality Issues
Finally, pay attention to the quality. Be sure to watch video surrounding the event and not just the event itself. Can you see people's faces clearly on the video? Can you see the difference in colors in the video? Does the video pick up image accurately when there are a lot of people on the screen? If the image is blurry or unclear, your attorney can argue that it doesn't present the best evidence possible and that it relies on one to infer that the person on the image is you instead of proving that it does; this can help you get the evidence thrown out of court.
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