Building a Richmond Child Pornography Defense
Child pornography charges can have life-altering consequences. Social stigma aside, an individual has to register as a sex offender if convicted, which could lead to less opportunities moving forward/If you have been charged with possessing or distributing child pornography, you should reach out to a skilled child pornography lawyer. An attorney could begin building a Richmond child pornography defense for you.
Elements of Building a Strong Defense
When building a Richmond child pornography defense, one has to know the law, know the statutes, know how to parse them, and know how to navigate the case law in these particular cases. Attorneys should also understand their audience. If it is going to be a judge or jury, they must tailor the defense to that audience. Those are going to be the key things: knowing the law and knowing how to tailor the defense to an audience in which one is going to be giving the defense or presenting the defense.
Important Tools When Building a Defense
Attorneys are going to want an investigator if it is a large-scale case. Mostly in production cases, they are going to want to see an investigator involved. They are going to want a thorough Brady motion and a thorough exculpatory evidence motion to compel the Commonwealth to turn over to the defense counsel any evidence that can be used to absolve an individual or, any evidence that shows the defendant may be innocent of these particular charges.
Constitutional Issues in Child Pornography Cases?
The constitutional issues that come about when building a Richmond child pornography defense are the Fourth and Fifth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment is the right to be free from illegal searches and seizures. When dealing with a child pornography case, the officers need to have pornography of a child. They have to find it. They have to search it out and get a search warrant for it. They have to kick in someone’s door and pull their computer or phone. When dealing with these kinds of cases, any time the officers have illegally seized someone or illegally searched someone, then that evidence can get thrown out, which can be strong in a child pornography case.
A person also has the right to remain silent and they cannot be coerced into giving confessions, especially if they have asked for an attorney. They cannot trick someone when they are talking if they have the person in custody or are interrogating them. Sometimes officers in their zealous effort to protect the citizens of Virginia find that they overstep their boundaries of the law and can lead to a beneficial outcome for the defendant.
Important Aspects When Defending Sex Crimes
The most important aspect when building a Richmond child pornography defense is figuring out what specifically the officers did that led them to the defendant. An attorney may examine whether there were any slip-ups or constitutional violations that might have lead to your arrest. If the answer is yes, then there is an aftermath. It could be important to ascertain why the police saw you as a target. This includes looking at how the police acted towards you, and so on. If you have been charged with child pornography offenses, consult a knowledgeable attorney that could advocate for you.
