Crime happens every day in Audrain County – from minor traffic violations to serious harm to children and people through assault, sexual assault and financial crimes. This is not something to fear, but something to keep in mind – you may be asked to participate in the process that you didn’t choose to be a part of. For a regular guy or gal like you, this may be your involvement in the criminal justice system.

Take for example a traffic crash. If you’re at an intersection, and a truck doesn’t stop for the stop sign, hitting a car, you’re a witness. You didn’t ask for that, and now you’re involved. The truck driver says the car driver hit him, and the opposite is true: the car driver says the truck hit the car. If a police officer comes on scene, listens to both drivers, observes the evidence and takes your statement – it’s likely that the truck driver may get a ticket for failing to stop at the stop sign.

The truck driver’s got a right to come to Court and say he’s not guilty. Even if, as you and the car driver know, he’s clearly guilty of that crime. The police officer, truck driver and witnesses can testify about what each saw, heard, and observed – that’s the circumstances of the crime, the after effects and beyond. But if they are telling opposite stories – the jury is left as the one who decides if the truck driver is guilty or not. As a witness, you don’t have a stake in the outcome – you just happened to be somewhere at a time something happened – can you tell us what happened? What you know of the facts, the truth, matters to a just outcome.

Law enforcement and the criminal justice system depend on all people truthfully telling what happened, what they saw, what they experienced and how they felt. Any crime, from a speeding ticket to a murder, requires citizens as well as officers to come into the courtroom and tell what happened. Most of the initial information in a case comes from reports written by police officers, deputies and troopers, with photographs, audio, video and physical items being collected and saved as well.

Interviews and written statements are common ways that officers get information about the type of crime, where and when it happened, what happened, who is involved, and how to keep people involved safe. The officer will need complete and accurate contact information from you – your name, address, phone number, and other identifying information – to make sure the Prosecutor’s office can find you if a case is filed and proceeds to court.

Even if information is provided during the investigation, that does not automatically make it admissible in Court. Missouri law requires the judge or jury to consider evidence to be offered by witnesses telling what they saw, felt, experienced or heard. Other evidence can include physical evidence, such as photos, guns, items of property, and scientific testing results, if they exist. If you are a witness in a case, you may be required to testify in Court with a Judge or jury.

After a case is filed, our office makes contact with witnesses through phone calls, letters and, when available through e-mail or text. Kara Winterbower, our victim advocate, and Jeremy Saunders, our investigator, become the point of contact in our office. Kara is involved until the case is resolved, communicating (and sometimes, translating) what happens in the Courtroom, and serving as a support and voice for victims and witnesses. Jeremy works with law enforcement and witnesses to ensure all information is forwarded to our office and to the defense, ensuring a “total picture” of the events.

There is a strong perception in parts of our community that being a witness makes you a “snitch” or that you’re helping the police put people away. That’s just not true. We ask witnesses to tell the truth about what they saw, heard, experienced, felt and heard. In a stealing case – if you saw someone leave your grandma’s house with two mayonnaise jars filled with her secret stash of cash, you and your grandma would want to know what you saw, heard, experienced and felt to bring that thief to justice.

Sometimes witnesses feel as if they are “sending someone to jail” – but that’s not right, either. As a prosecutor, I’m asking witnesses to tell what they heard, saw, felt, experienced or said. That’s not about “feelings,” it’s about facts. Facts are things that are true, and our system is based on juries being able to determine facts and apply them to the law the Judge gives in each case. A case doesn’t ask for judgment – but a decision based on reason, common sense and the truth.

Put another way, if your neighbor sees someone driving off in your car from your driveway when you’re in the back yard barbecuing, you would hope they’d tell you. Maybe your answer is easy: “I let my cousin take the car to the grocery store,” – or maybe it’s someone who has taken your car without your permission. Either way, as a society, we need each other to watch out for each other. If there’s a simple explanation, then that’s where it ends. However, in a criminal investigation, each part of the story is a piece to a puzzle, and we want as many pieces to tell the story.

If you are a victim of a crime, or if you see a crime happen, the best thing you can do is report to law enforcement. The agencies in Audrain County exist to serve and protect citizens, and they do that beginning with initial contact. Although officers are on duty all the time in Audrain County, they can’t be everywhere at once, and are working both pro-actively and reactively to criminal threats. In an emergency, always dial 9-1-1 to reach Joint Communications, where the telecommunicators can help determine what kind of help to send, and get the help you need to you quickly. For non-emergencies, call the non-emergency line at 573-473-5800 and speak with a telecommunicator so they can help you resolve the issue.

A trial is a lengthy, formal process where the State must show the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Witnesses and victims are called to testify, evidence is submitted to the judge or jury, and a verdict is made. Each citizen has a right to a jury trial in almost all criminal cases, from traffic tickets to murder, and that’s a big job. We need our community to help bring justice for victims, making sure all obey our laws. This foundation keeps everyone safe and protected from harm, financial loss, or future abuse. We need the help of witnesses every day to secure all Americans’ rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness under the law that applies equally to everyone.