During the course of white-collar crime investigations, police searches are common. They may want to perform searches of physical locations, such as your company’s offices or headquarters. They may also carry out digital searches, focusing on computers, cellphones, servers, networks and other places where digital evidence may be stored.
One important detail to keep in mind when facing such an investigation is that a search warrant is generally required for these police actions. White-collar crimes are not typically emergency situations that would mandate an immediate search. So the police will generally ask for your consent to perform such a search, or they need to get a warrant to do it without consent.
Invalidating evidence
If the police fail to get the proper warrant or consent, they can actually invalidate their own evidence under the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. This mandates that evidence that was illegally gathered is inadmissible in court, so it cannot be used against you, even if it would be fundamental evidence in your case.
For example, you may be under investigation for financial crimes, and the police want to access your computer servers to gather information about international financial transactions. If they force access without a warrant, however, even if the evidence on the servers is incriminating, they may be barred from using it during the proceedings. This can be a very significant detail during your case, especially if it is the only evidence that the police have of any wrongdoing.
It is very important to understand all of your legal defense options when facing such serious charges, and it can help to explore them with an experienced criminal defense attorney.