Physical Evidence Essay
Anyone old enough can remember the OJ Simpson murder trial. On the news, broadcasted into every home, O.J. Simpson shaking his head as he tried putting on the glove that they thought would be part of his conviction. That particular incident has been burned into our memories for a long time. As one of his lawyers had stated, “If it don’t fit, you must acquit”. This was the age of the physical, tangible evidence. Criminals have been convicted on a let less and then set free because of knives, gloves and blood stains.
Fast-forward 15 years. Now, criminals are being accused of and convicted of crimes because of the way they can find things within a personal computer. Police have the power, tools and up to date ways of finding out and analyzing ones computer to find out if there is anything in it for a conviction.
Such as Calvin E. Hoke III, he was convicted child molester. Hoke was arrested in 2009 on charges of child molestation. He was found placing his hand over the private area of a young girl. When police entered his house, they found thousands of photographs of child pornography. It makes sense that a child molester would also delve into pornography, most that look at or download child pornography don’t go out and do the crime of child molestation. Hoke pleaded guilty and received two years in prison and two years of probation. Along with more time served for more counts against him, which could be up to three years on top of what he has already served.
Getting evidence during an investigation involves getting what’s on the suspects hard drive. The analysis not done from the suspect’s hard drive but form a copy of it. The reason is done so that the original is not tampered with or altered. The process of authentication ensures that the evidence has not been altered in any way during the process. If changes are made to the original or copy it will not be submissible in court in whole or in part. Parts of the process also consist of...