Overview#
A prosecutor reviewing a money laundering case needs to find every document that mentions a specific account number across a collection of thousands of seized files spanning spreadsheets, emails, PDFs, and recorded conversations. A detective building a timeline needs to filter evidence by date range, source device, and file type simultaneously. A disclosure coordinator needs to locate all items tagged as Brady material before a filing deadline. None of these tasks should require a specialist database query. The Evidence Search and Discovery module makes all of them fast, accurate, and accessible to non-technical users.
The system indexes evidence content, metadata, and case attributes as items enter the repository, making everything searchable immediately. Full-text search across extracted document content, metadata field searches, faceted filtering across multiple attributes at once, and AI-powered relevance ranking that understands investigative context together give analysts the tools to find relevant evidence quickly, even when they do not know exactly what they are looking for. Search results are exportable for case preparation and disclosure documentation.
Key Features#
- Full-text search across evidence content, including OCR-extracted text from scanned documents and transcripts from audio and video recordings
- Metadata indexing for structured field searching, covering file attributes, chain of custody fields, case identifiers, and analyst-assigned tags
- Faceted filtering with dynamic filter options computed from the actual result set, so investigators can progressively narrow results without reformulating queries
- AI-powered relevance ranking that understands investigative context and workflow patterns, surfacing the most case-relevant items rather than just frequency-matched results
- Pattern identification across evidence collections, enabling analysts to spot connections and trends across related items
- Saved search capabilities for recurring investigation queries, so common searches can be run again as new evidence is added
- Search result export for case preparation documentation, disclosure packages, and legal review
- Cross-collection search spanning multiple cases and evidence types, supporting task forces and investigations that draw on shared evidence repositories
Use Cases#
- Rapidly discovering relevant evidence across large case collections using natural language queries, without requiring knowledge of the underlying data structure
- Filtering evidence by multiple metadata facets simultaneously to narrow a large collection to the specific items relevant to a particular investigation angle
- Identifying patterns across evidence collections that support or challenge case theories, including connections between items from different sources
- Exporting search results for legal review, disclosure compliance documentation, and case preparation packages
Integration#
The Evidence Search and Discovery module connects with evidence management, case management, and analytics platforms for comprehensive evidence intelligence.
Open Standards#
- GraphQL: All search queries, faceted filter operations, saved-search mutations, and result exports are exposed through a typed GraphQL API, enabling structured discovery across evidence collections without bespoke query languages.
- ISO 19005 (PDF/A-3, PDF/A-2, PDF/A-1): Search result export packages and disclosure bundles are rendered as ISO 19005-compliant archival PDFs, ensuring long-term readability and legal admissibility of exported evidence sets.
- W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model v2.0: Each indexed evidence item carries a W3C VC credential that search results can surface, allowing investigators to verify provenance and chain-of-custody directly from a result without leaving the interface.
- RFC 3161 (Internet X.509 PKI Time-Stamp Protocol): Trusted timestamps are embedded in evidence records at ingest and can be presented alongside search results, providing cryptographically verifiable proof of when an item entered the repository.
- SHA-256 (FIPS 180-4): Cryptographic digests of evidence file bytes are stored with every indexed item and included in exported result manifests, enabling integrity verification of any file returned by a search.
- Exif (JEITA CP-3451C): Image evidence is parsed for Exif metadata at ingest, making camera model, capture timestamp, and GPS co-ordinates available as searchable and filterable structured fields.
- RFC 822 (Internet Message Format): Email evidence files are ingested as RFC 822 messages, with headers, sender, recipient, subject, and body extracted into the full-text and metadata indexes to support keyword and faceted search across correspondence.
- ISO 4217: Three-letter currency codes in financial evidence records are stored per ISO 4217, enabling accurate faceted filtering when investigators search for transactions denominated in a specific currency.
Last Reviewed: 2026-02-09 Last Updated: 2026-04-14