Court Procedures / Evidence / Service

Even if someone isn’t sure about pressing charges, or they don’t want to report the abuse to the courts or police, there could be other ways to document injuries in case the evidence is needed in the future. [IF YOU THINK THE WRITER IS A MINOR, THIS COULD TRIGGER A MANDATORY ABUSE REPORT SO DON’T INCLUDE THIS: Getting checked out by a doctor could be a way to document what happened without alerting the abuser. A doctor could document any injuries and the victim’s statements about what happened and how they got the injuries in the person’s medical record. That record could likely be admitted into evidence in a later court proceeding if necessary.]  The victim can also take photos on their own of any injuries in a way that shows the date to document injuries. Most phone cameras record the date a photo is taken or a person may take some of the photos while holding that day’s front page of the newspaper to show the date (and then save the newspaper). Or, a person can take the photos and then email them to themselves or to a trusted person so that the email clearly shows the date the photos were sent.