Evidence Necessary to Convict Somebody of Murder
This is an important topic because it's not always clear to people why they're being charged with murder or why their loved one is being charged with murder in Los Angeles County, and why the courts have taken the case, especially when it involves multiple defendants in a case, and it's a confusing fact pattern.
People can't figure out what evidence the prosecutors have against them or their loved ones, and they're constantly saying to me, I don't understand why my son, daughter, brother, or sister was charged with murder under California Penal Code 187. What evidence do they have?
Eyewitness Identification & Defendant's Statements
The type of evidence you'll usually see in a murder case is eyewitness identification. For example, somebody might know a murder. Somebody would see who the shooter was if it was a shooting, and then that person could testify and pick the person out of a line-up, whether it be a photographic or live in-person line-up. So, that would be one example of evidence that prosecutors could use in a murder case.
Believe it or not, some of the most powerful evidence that I see used in murder cases, and I've been doing this for twenty-five years and handled a lot of murder cases, is the defendant's statement. They'll start talking about the murder. They'll make admissions.
Even defendants who deny certain things related to a murder charge, if they admit other things, that evidence can very effectively be used against them.
I had a big murder case downtown about twenty years ago. We had a great defense in the case. The prosecutors, though, did have the defendant in Spanish on videotape talking about his actions surrounding the murder case, and some of the things that he said were very incriminating.
The prosecutor considered that evidence so effective and important that they subtitled the video for the jury and played it in the opening statement.
They played it during the testimony and then again in the closing argument. That gives you an idea of how impactful a defendant's statement is in a murder case or any criminal charge. That's why defense attorneys always say don't make a statement.
DNA and Physical Evidence
You won't have the same evidence in every murder case. But other evidence they could have could be DNA or physical evidence like fingerprints. All sorts of DNA experts can come in.
Suppose there's blood, for example. I had a murder charge in the Van Nuys court years ago. Where the day that I got on the case, the prosecutor handed me something, and it was the victim's blood found on a boot inside my client's closet when they executed a search warrant. That's evidence. That's an example. They're trying to build a chain of evidence in a murder case.
A lot of times, they don't have murders on video where you can just see the person who shoots him, and that's it. There's no argument about it unless there's some self-defense claim.
But they usually don't have that, so they must prove the case differently. They don't have to have every single murder case on video. They're going to have to have a chain of evidence that, after the jury looks at it, leads to the conclusion that the defendant is the one who committed the murder.
How is Phone Ping Evidence Used in a Murder Case?
I've defended many murder cases, and recently, a great tool for the prosecutors is this phone ping evidence. What it is, they can track people's phones to determine where they were at the time of a murder.
So, let's say a murder occurred at 2:00 a.m., and they can track the person's phone near the murder scene; combined with other evidence, it becomes a very effective weapon.
However, there are ways to attack this phone ping evidence. First and foremost, just because somebody's phone is somewhere doesn't necessarily mean they are there. They can't put the person there. It's just one piece of evidence in a long chain.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, they need to find exactly where your phone is. What they can do, though, is ping your phone at a particular time.
Let's take our 2:00 a.m., for example. Then, they'll be able to see that your phone pinged off a tower at a particular time, but that doesn't mean anything because it's pinging off a tower, not a location.
Range of the Phone Tower
The next question becomes, what is the range of the tower? So, let's say that it's a five-mile range. So, that means your phone, at 2:00 a.m., is within five miles of that particular tower. So, depending on how close that tower is to the murder scene, for example, that may or may not be helpful to the prosecutors.
I've also seen that the more congested the area is, the more precise they can do the ping. However, on the other hand, the more rural the area is, the more difficult it is because the ping radius is much broader.
The prosecutors will get a phone expert to testify about how the ping works. The expert will try to create a diagram and chart to show where they think the phone may be.
Ping Experts
You want to have your defense attorney ready to attack them, and a lot. Depending on whether it makes sense and whether our ping expert can testify and help us, we may even get our ping experts.
If not, I've often hired a ping expert to look at the prosecutor's report to assist me with asking the right questions about the ping evidence, depending on how complicated it might be. Since I've done many cases, I have a good background on how the ping evidence can be helpful and how it can benefit the defense in some respects.
So, if you or a loved one is charged with murder and you're looking for an attorney with much experience dealing with not only ping evidence but with evidence relating to murder cases – how to defend murder cases and investigate murder cases – look no further.
Proving a Murder Case Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
They have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and prove all the elements of the crime listed under CALCRIM 520 Jury Instructions. The defendant will start with the presumption of innocence, meaning they're going to be presumed innocent of that murder charge.
Unless the prosecution can bring on evidence that tips the scales in their favor enough so the jury can find beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is guilty of the murder, then that person will have to be found not guilty.
So, that starts to give you an idea of what evidence would be necessary in a murder case. There's going to be eye-witnesses. There's going to be physical evidence and DNA evidence. Other things can apply in a particular case depending on the circumstances of the murder.
But those are the two that I see a lot: witnesses pointing the defendant out and the defendant themselves making incriminating statements. Also, getting good DNA evidence helps the prosecutors solidify their case and show the jury that the defendant is guilty.
You'll also have either direct or indirect evidence, like circumstantial evidence. So, they don't always have to have eyewitnesses or DNA evidence. An example of circumstantial evidence would be, let's say, that a mom bakes a pie and a little three-year-old boy is in the kitchen.
She leaves the pie with the boy. She returns ten minutes later, and the pie has taken a big bite out of it. Does she ask the boy, did you bite that pie? The boy says, no, I didn't bite the pie.
So, does that mean the boy's innocent? No. You're going to look for circumstantial evidence. The boy has cherry juice all over his mouth. There are crumbs all down his shirt. The boy's the only one in the house. So, you can start to argue that the boy's the one that bites the pie.
This concept of circumstantial evidence, I think, is the biggest thing that confuses people when it comes to murder charges. Circumstantially, once you look at all the evidence, it leads to the conclusion that a particular person or persons was involved in a murder.
Review Murder Case Strategy With Criminal Lawyer
So, if you have one of these scenarios, get to an attorney. Get to someone like me. We'll sit down and talk about it. I'll let you know how the prosecutors will prove the case. I mean, that's a key thing to be able to have under your hat.
Based on my experience, I know that once I read the whole case and talked to the defendant and the prosecutor, I knew exactly how they would try to lay out the evidence. Once you have that, you can start talking about how you're going to defend that attack that the prosecutors will make at a jury trial.
Please make no mistake; it's going to be an attack. They're going to point at the defendant. They're going to say that person is guilty. Here's why that person is guilty, and you're going to have a defense attorney ready to stand up and say no, they're wrong. This person didn't commit the murder, and here's why they didn't commit the murder.
