Digital Evidence: Power of Video for Criminal Defense Attorneys
October 2023
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3 min read
Digital evidence has become a big part of your reality in defending your clients. Video evidence, in particular, helps you create a strong defense case.
However, working with videos can be quite complex and demanding. You got to know how to clip the video footage together, redact PII out of it, and many more.
Plus you are going to end up with huge amounts, terabytes and terabytes of videos that you will have to maintain and keep for several years depending on your jurisdiction. Where do you store all these data?
Reduct simplifies the process and makes it easy for you to manage digital video evidence. In this article, we will discuss how Reduct can help you work with video evidence more efficiently and effectively.
Real-Life Application of Reduct in Digital Video Evidence
Whether you're preparing for your defense case or presenting it in court, Reduct can help you at every stage.
Case Preparation
Before setting foot in the courtroom, Reduct can be your best ally.
1. Gathering Video Evidence
Reduct simplifies the process of collecting high-volume digital video evidence, such as body cam footage and surveillance recordings, all in one platform.
You can import the footage directly from your computer or copy shared Google Drive links, paste them into Reduct, and have everything in one place.
2. Reviewing Video Evidence
Reviewing hours-long video footage can be challenging, but Reduct simplifies this task.
Once you upload the footage to Reduct, it provides you with accurate AI legal transcription. You can go through these transcripts and review hours-long footage quickly.
Pro tip: You can also download the transcripts from the video footage separately as a PDF with court-compliant legal formatting.
3. Working with Video Evidence
Reduct's law transcription service is incredibly handy. They allow you to make necessary edits, easily locate crucial parts, highlight them, and clip them together.
With Reduct, you can also apply redaction to the video footage in just 3 simple steps. This way you will be able to protect PII, making the footage admissible as video evidence to present in court.
In the Courtroom
During the trial itself, Reduct can be a game-changer.
1. Presenting Video Evidence
Reduct-prepared video evidence can be presented in a clear and compelling manner.
Pro tip: Reduct can automatically add subtitles to your video evidence. It makes footage much easier to understand, even if they were recorded in noisy places or with strong accents.
Having Reduct’s subtitle to your video evidence will help you paint a vivid and cohesive picture of the incident that everyone in the court can follow along.
2. Cross-Examination
If any witness goes sideways during the trial, especially when their testimony contradicts digital video evidence, Reduct can help you address it.
You can use Reduct’s searchable transcript to quickly locate and show key moments in the video evidence to support your statement.
This will help you make strong, fact-based arguments in court.
Post-Trial
Even after the verdict, Reduct remains invaluable.
1. Store evidence
After a trial, it's essential to safely store video evidence for future use. Reduct provides a secure, unlimited storage space where you can create a well-organized archive for all your video evidence.
You can easily manage this library and revisit it whenever you need it, as long as you have access.
2. Appeal Preparation
If the need arises, Reduct can help you prepare for a robust appeal.
You can revisit Reduct’s archive and reanalyze video evidence, potentially uncovering new insights that could lead to a successful appeal.
Conclusion
Reduct is an invaluable tool for criminal defense attorneys dealing with digital video evidence. It streamlines the footage review process and helps you find concrete evidence, even in the most complex cases.
One of our valuable customers, Chris Angles runs a criminal defense law firm and uses Reduct when working with digital video evidence. As a result, his office has been able to easily deal with large quantities of footage and get better outcomes for their clients.
"I don’t know how I did this before I had Reduct"- Crish Angles.
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