One way to effectively fight back against federal criminal charges is to try to suppress prosecutors’ evidence. This can be a difficult task, for sure, but by delving into the details of your case you may find areas of opportunity. And suppressing evidence can have a major impact on your case. It could force prosecutors to offer you a better plea deal or you may wind up with dismissed charges or an acquittal.

Can you suppress evidence in your case?

So, how do you go about suppressing evidence? You might be able to suppress evidence by filing a pretrial motion requesting a judge to do just that, but you’ll have to have some sort of justification, such as any of the following:

• An illegal search and seizure: You have Constitutional protections against unlawful searches and seizures. The police typically must have a warrant before conducting a search, although there are certain exceptions to this warrant requirement. If your charges were filed after evidence was illegally seized, then you may be in a strong position to suppress that evidence.
• Forced confession: Investigators are required to inform you of your rights when you’re subjected to custodial interrogation. If they didn’t provide you with your Miranda warning and you subsequently made statements that prosecutors then hope to use against you, then you may be able to argue that those statements were illegally obtained and therefore shouldn’t be used against you.
• Chain of custody errors: Evidence has to be collected and maintained in a certain way to ensure that it isn’t compromised. When law enforcement mishandles evidence, then it’s validity may be drawn into question. If you’re able to do this, then a judge might be convinced to suppress the evidence.

Build the criminal defense that you deserve

There are a lot of moving parts to an effective criminal defense, and each one has to be appropriately addressed if you hope to maximize your chances of beating the prosecution. With that in mind, it might be in your best interests to work with an experienced attorney as you build your defense strategy.