PLEASE HELP!!! Trial w/FBI tomorrow. Need answers.?

Question

A relative of mine has a court date tomorrow. His house was raided by the FBI a few months ago. They went through every nook and cranny of the house and found various hanguns, firearms, and ammo. They took a complete inventory list of everything, leaving a copy of this behind which I now have in my possession. The documents being presented in court tomorrow show a completely different number of items, than what is on the inventory list. The number they are showing now is actually lower than what was originally written, but my question is this: Since the numbers are so way off, should the documents still be credible? It seems as if numbers were just made up, and if that is the case....there should be no case. Please, if you have any info, or documentation where this has been a factor in the past, let me know ASAP. Our future rests on any help you can provide. Thank you.

Answer 1

Sounds like the difference in the documents is that some of the items seized are not going to be used as evidence in the trial - and as a result were excluded from the second list.

Answer 2

If your future rested in our hands then you have something to worry about. You should have got yourself a good lawyer to deal with this matter. How can we possibly know all of the details. I guess the FBI had good reason to search the premises and if they thought there were nothing illegal I would not imagine they would waste their time taking the matter to court. You could say something regarding the in-discrepancy with the figures, but you will only be answering questions you have been asked, you cannot profer any information regarding the case. You should really have discussed this much sooner with a competent lawyer. I perhaps would ask you what was your relative doing with so many guns and stuff in the first place and how come the FBI got involved, sounds a bit suspicious to me.

Answer 3

Hopefully, independently of you, your relative has retained a laywer ... outside of court, the defense and prosecutor do like a dance in which they manage to get some evidence is not going to be used at trial.

The FBI has something like 3-5 million employees. It is bigger than any Fortune 500 corporation in terms of people. For example, IBM has 1/10 as many employees as the FBI.

Now there is a rule of thumb in organizations, that there needs to be some beaurocracy to help make sure everyone is on the same team working towards common goals and resolution. But for each department to cooperate with each other department, and location, and speciality, you have to have lines of communication connection & the bigger the organization, it is like all possible combination permutations, so you get to the point that the only thing there is the beaurocracy & very little left to actually do the job.

This is true for many US government agencies.

The GAO has done various audits and found the FBI routinely loses track of hundreds of weapons and computers every year. They really do not know what they have, because of arrogance. Several times there have been efforts to bring in computer professionals to help them get organized, but in police work, the police have to be arrogant to get the job done. FBI agents are like this on steroids, so it is very difficult for them to work with other kinds of professionals to get improvements.

On July 8, 2007, the House Committee on Homeland Security, a Congressional investigation, came out with a reports saying that the Department of Homeland Security is seriously lacking leadership ... something like 24% of the job openings for top people in the areas of national security are lacking anyone doing that job. Here's a link to more info in case you are interested in this.
http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/anmviewer.asp?a=208&z=1

Answer 4

Let me get this straight, "your future rests on any help you can provide" and this is the night before the trial and you are on Yahoo Answers looking for help?

Best of luck.
Doesn't your relative have an attorney?

Answer 5

1. Police and prosecutors in the Las Vegas Valley routinely try to keep essential information from defense lawyers, violating the constitutional rights of those accused of crimes, defense attorneys and the county public defender say.

Besides violating the U.S. and Nevada constitutions and potentially putting innocent people behind bars, the actions of the district attorney's office and Metro Police waste large amounts of time and money, as defenders must go to court over and over to obtain evidence to which they are legally entitled, the attorneys say.

"It's either buffoonery or malicious disregard for the U.S. Constitution on the part of the D.A.'s office," defense attorney Robert Langford said.

"I am convinced it is intentional and intended to slow down the litigation process or prevent the defense from getting the information they need," he added. 2. WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten days before Timothy McVeigh was executed, lawyers for FBI lab employees sent an urgent letter to the attention of Attorney General John Ashcroft alleging that a key prosecution witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trial might have given false testimony about forensic evidence.
The allegations involving Steven Burmeister, now the FBI lab's chief of scientific analysis, were never turned over to McVeigh or the trial court, though they surfaced as the judge was considering whether to delay his execution because the government withheld evidence.

The letter, however, was recently turned over to bombing conspirator Terry Nichols who faces another trial on Oklahoma state murder charges.

"Material evidence presented by the government in the OKBOMB prosecution through the testimony of Mr. Burmeister appears to be false, misleading and potentially fabricated," said the June 1, 2001, letter to Ashcroft obtained by The Associated Press. The lawyers represented several FBI lab employees, including one who sued after being fired.

The letter cited Burmeister's testimony in a civil case as evidence contradicting his earlier McVeigh testimony. The letter specifically challenged Burmeister's testimony that chemical residues found on evidence came only from McVeigh's bomb, not other sources such as lab contamination.

It was sent to Ashcroft's general fax number and by courier with the notation "URGENT MATTER FOR THE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL."

Answer 6

perhaps the weapons listed are those in which your relative has the LEGAL right to still possess...some weapons are banned from possession in some states....other than that I would contact an attorney and file a paper to note the needed correction....yes, there is a form.....this type is stuff is why Americans need to support the NRA......in my opinion

Answer 7

OOOH... HMMM... I'd contact an atty asap if he doesnt already have one defending him.. whatever the cost im sure is worth any time he can save him in the pen.. does seem like that would give you some grounds to stand on, but i'd say you contact an atty before you bring anything to their attention, they can and will use it against you if you're not careful

Answer 8

i just wrote a bunch of stuff to help you out.. but i stopped because i could be helping a bad guy..

so all I'm saying is.. look up or try to get info about "chain of custody" for evidence.

=)