Had an acquaintance who is a cop in the DFW area tell me they are under direct orders to go for the computer first on all "dynamic entries" i.e. kick down your door/smash windows/shoot dogs. And they emprises that means shoot to kill if necessary.
I kid you not, told me right to my face square up truthful.
So that tells me that there are PD's with management policies that assume guilt prior to the determination of the facts and direct orders to execute homeowners or residents if it appears they can not get to the computer first.
Now I know for a fact that I can alter the date time stamp on just about any file on a regular day-to-day Windows based PC.
Lots easer that risking throwing down a bag of dope or a hot gun...
No way to disprove it and you can blame it on anyone.
Maybe, maybe not. It is a lot harder to do this without detection than you think. In addition to the file itself, you would have to change any copies in the shadow volumes (restore points), as well as make sure no copies of the MFT existed in unallocated space, page files, hibernation files, etc. That takes quite a bit of time and technical expertise. If you miss even one, it becomes obvious what was done.