Consistent practices help verify your work and enhance your credibility, so you must handle all
evidence consistently. Apply the same security and accountability controls for evidence in a civil
lawsuit as in a major crime to comply with your state’s rules of evidence or with the Federal
Rules of Evidence. Also, keep in mind that evidence admitted in a criminal case might also be
used in a civil suit, and vice versa. For example, suppose someone is charged with murder and
acquitted at the criminal trial because the jury isn’t convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the
person’s guilt. If enough evidence shows that the accused’s negligence contributed to a wrongful
death, however, the victim’s relatives can use the evidence in a civil lawsuit to recover damages.