Planting, Altering Or Concealing Physical Evidence – California Penal Code 141 PC
I do encounter this occasionally, where people plant or alter evidence. I've been doing this for twenty-five years across Los Angeles County and many other jurisdictions, and it comes up in several different areas. A lot of times, I see police planting or altering evidence. I have represented a few police officers about this particular crime.
But, when it involves a civilian being charged as a defendant in one of the Los Angeles criminal courts related to this charge of planting, altering, or concealing evidence, it probably has to do with somebody who has committed a crime – maybe they or their family members are trying to get somehow rid of the evidence – whether they're getting rid of some clothes or some sort of property. They're doing it because they realize if the police obtain that evidence, they will end up getting prosecuted for a crime.
When it comes to the defense of somebody who is charged with tampering with evidence, you're usually going to see a situation — assuming it's not the police who are being accused of planting or tampering with evidence — where somebody who is a family member of another person decides that they're going to start moving a crime scene around to help their loved one, so maybe they take a weapon or they do something else to help the defendant in the case. When the police discover it, they can get you for tampering with evidence.
The same holds that if you were — after a crime has occurred — to move something around or add something to the crime scene, like a weapon or something else, then you could be charged with planting evidence.
We usually only see a few cases filed because they are difficult to prove. In other words, they need an eyewitness or evidence showing you planted or tampered with evidence and violated Penal Code Section 141 in Los Angeles.
So, suppose you're charged with altering any physical evidence or planning any physical evidence in Los Angeles County. In that case, you'll want to get in front of me because this is a challenging crime for the prosecutors to prove. Often, people have some excellent defenses that they can utilize to defend one of these cases under Penal Code Section 141.
Tampering with Fingerprints or DNA Evidence
With the evidence, the prosecutors can prove tampering or planting evidence. But there are circumstances where I've seen it—and I've been doing this for twenty-five years—where someone again is messing around with a crime scene, and somehow—because of fingerprints or DNA or a witness—the prosecutors and police can figure this out. They will then prosecute that person because they don't want anybody tampering with the evidence of a crime.
These terms are used in conjunction with accessory after the fact—if you help somebody in any way and you tamper with evidence or put evidence in that shouldn't be there, then you, too, could be complicit in the crime and be charged with planting or tampering with evidence.
You could be charged as an accessory after the fact. You could even be accused of conspiracy if you knew about the crime and were involved in it from the beginning.
Tampering with Evidence by Law Enforcement
So, if you're charged with planting evidence, you must get an attorney immediately. If you're a law enforcement officer and you're accused of this, you should seek consultation as fast as possible because once you start messing around with the fabric of our criminal justice system by planting evidence or tampering with any evidence, this is where the prosecutors and police become very angry, and judges also become incensed when they sentence people who tamper with evidence.
So, you're going to want to get an attorney. Could you go in and tell them all the facts about what happened? I get you in, and we talk about everything. The attorney/client privilege protects it so that you can speak honestly.
We can really get to the bottom of what's happening because sometimes the police don't have the whole story about this planting or tampering with evidence. They only have part of the story, and you will try to talk to the police to clear things up, which is usually a bad idea.
Number one, you might partially admit to a crime by doing that. Number two, sometimes your words can get twisted and taken out of context, putting you in a wrong position where you cannot get yourself out of it. The police are claiming that you said something that you didn't say.
Unless there's audio or videotape of your statement to the police, you've done a disservice to yourself. ‘whether it is planting or tampering with evidence under Penal Code Section 141 or any other crime in Los Angeles.
I typically see the most valuable evidence for the prosecutors and the most difficult evidence to get around for the defense is when somebody talks to the police, and they either have an audio of it, a video of it, or you've got the police claiming that you said certain things.
That is the best evidence, and that's the evidence juries will hang their hat on. Sometimes, we can use that in a defense case as well, but most of the time, it's someone foolishly trying to talk their way out of a crime that ends up being the quicksand that sinks them.
Defenses to Planting, Altering, or Concealing Physical Evidence
People who are charged with crimes are entitled to get their evidence. They can do their investigation. So, one potential defense in one of these prosecutions: Listen, yeah, I was involved with the evidence because I was getting it to defend myself, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that.
You get into a problem when you start to try to destroy evidence, hide evidence from the police, and somehow alter certain evidence so that the police can't access it—whether it be in a computer or some other area. So, these cases are not that easy to prove.
When it comes to the defenses of concealing, altering, or planting evidence, you really need to sit down with a seasoned criminal defense attorney. I've been doing this for a long time. I get all the information out. There's a rush to judgment in these cases, and the person is prosecuted, but they can't meet the elements of Penal Code Section 141.
They cannot show that anyone altered, planted, or concealed anything, and they cannot even show that the defendant did anything wrong. Still, someone has told some story about them, and there was a rush to judgment, and they didn't do an investigation.
They didn't get the defendant's version of events, so now the person is charged with a crime. Now, you have to get a criminal defense attorney in there to fight for you—to assert your rights—to show them that they don't have a good case against you and that you have a defense and can fight the case.
Developing a Defense Strategy for Best Outcome
What I have you do is I have you come in the office, and we go over everything. I encourage you to be honest, so I can have a fair account of what happened. Then I can figure out precisely what type of defense might apply to you and whether your case should go to a jury trial or if, on the other hand, they do have some evidence that you planted evidence, you altered evidence, or you concealed proof in some way. We're going to figure out how to do damage control.
We will send the prosecutor and police your version of events because they sometimes get the other side. They only get a one-sided version of what happened. Once your version is in there, they have something else to consider.
We put together a mitigation package and showed them—listen, here's what's really going on. Here's who this person is. Please don't put them in jail. Don't ruin their life. Don't ruin their career. Please don't put a mark on their record that they can't get off.
In all the criminal cases I handle, I aim to get you out of the criminal justice system as quickly as possible, protect your freedom, rights, and reputation, and do everything possible to get your story across and get you the best possible result.
