Title: Can a case hold up in court if there is no evidence or witnesses? | Lawyers.com
Headings: Can a case hold up in court if there is no evidence or witnesses?
QUESTION
Can a case hold up in court if there is no evidence or witnesses?
5 ANSWERS
JK
Joseph A Katz (Unclaimed Profile)
PH
Philip Daniel Hache (Unclaimed Profile)
JY
Jeff Fengcheng Yeh (Unclaimed Profile)
Terry Alan Nelson (Unclaimed Profile)
DR
Dennis Julian Roberts (Unclaimed Profile)
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5 ANSWERS
JK
Joseph A Katz (Unclaimed Profile)
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Answered on Mar 08th, 2011 at 11:31 AM
A criminal prosecution must be founded upon some kind of evidence, pursuant to the law, the Penal Code, the Evidence Code and the California Criminal Jury Instructions. A live witness is certainly not necessary, but some evidence is obviously mandatory. There must be admissible evidence of a crime such that the jury (or Judge) can find that each element of each crime must be proven by the District Attorney beyond a reasonable doubt. Remember, at least lip service is given to the proposition that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty, though it does not take long when observing our system of justice to conclude that much of what happens does not operate upon that principle. Report Abuse
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PH
Philip Daniel Hache (Unclaimed Profile)
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Answered on Mar 07th, 2011 at 1:20 PM
If there is no evidence, no witnesses, no statements, nothing against you, then the Prosecutor would not have much of a case. If so, charges should be dismissed. If not dismissed, it would be tough to get a jury to convict you if there is no evidence.