Can Tattoos Leave Room For Reasonable Doubt?
Surveillance cameras at places of business and outside residences have been a breakthrough in forensic science. Now police and jurors can compare statements by witnesses to photographic images and video footage, instead of simply to their own mental images of what the person described by the witness looked like. The same person might look substantially different in different pictures, to the point that a person who does not know the subject well must examine the images carefully to be sure whether both images depict the same person. Surveillance camera footage does not always show people up close, and the resolution is nowhere near as high as the resolution on a cell phone camera, so it is usually necessary to corroborate the surveillance camera footage with other evidence to persuade jurors of a defendant’s guilt. Identifiable markings such as easily visible tattoos leave less room for doubt about the identity of the person photographed by the surveillance camera. If police are trying to connect you to a crime because of your visible tattoos, contact a Tampa criminal defense lawyer.
Hand Tattoo Filmed by ATM Surveillance Camera Leads to Financial Crime Charges
A tattoo on the hand of a Broward County woman was the first clue in an investigation that led to her facing criminal charges for multiple financial crimes. Two surveillance cameras at two retail locations on the same day seem to show the defendant and her hand tattoo. The first camera that filmed her tattoo is at an Aldi supermarket. It shows her talking to the elderly man in front of her at the self-checkout line as he buys groceries. While the man looks at the floor, apparently searching for a missing item, the woman steals his ATM card. The other footage is from a Chase Bank ATM where the same tattooed hand appears to enter a PIN and make transactions.
As the investigation continued, investigators uncovered evidence that might connect the same woman to other financial crimes. The other evidence takes the form of checks that were altered after the issuer filled them out and deposited into accounts that do not belong to the payees originally designated on the checks, although they also do not belong to the defendant. In some cases, the amounts deposited had more decimal places than the amounts that the issuers of the check intended to pay. Prosecutors allege that the defendant stole the checks from outgoing mailboxes. In one case, she allegedly stole a checkbook from an elderly man’s home office. News reports did not indicate whether the woman’s hand tattoo was visible on surveillance camera footage at banks where the altered checks were deposited.
Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven
A criminal defense lawyer can help you get justice if you are facing criminal charges for financial crimes because surveillance camera footage from banks at around the time of a suspicious transaction appears to show your tattoos. Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.
Source:
cbs12.com/news/crime/florida-woman-accused-in-palm-beach-county-check-washing-identity-theft-spree-grand-theft-forged-instruments-identity-theft-stolen-financial-information-deposits-names-payees-victims-mail-pin-postal-service
