Accountability Law and Legal Definition. Accountability is generally the state of being liable, answerable, or accountable. When applied to a legal context, accountability means that some legal rule(s) exists under which a theory or claim can be made to find one liable in a civil law suit or culpable in a criminal matter. Under state laws, a person must reach a certain age before they can be held accountable in both civil and criminal matters.
A police officerâs regular practice in the business of policing is to observe crime and report it. Thus, an officerâs reports are often considered business records and therefore are allowed into evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule.
Criminal evidence is any physical or verbal evidence that is presented for the purpose of proving a crime. This evidence can take many different forms and may also be introduced by the defendant to prove that they are not guilty. It is illegal to attempt to hide any of this evidence, an action that is known as spoilation of evidence, from the other side or from the authorities.