Page 165 - CFDI Guide

THE CFDI INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

The format and style of any investigative, or expert, report is a personal process. Of importance is the

contents covering the information, facts, and evidence in necessary detail. There two components – 1) the
CFDI’s review and analysis of the official investigations, primarily by law enforcement and medical

examiner / coroner and may include fire, EMS, ambulance, OSHA, etc. as other investigating agencies.
Additional will also include anything relevant from any prosecution investigation; and 2) additional

investigation, findings, and recommendations by the CFDI with any facts developed. The CFDI report may
be used by the defense attorney to assist with plea and sentencing negotiations – be knowledgeable of

any disclosure requirements, communicate with the defense attorney, and draft your report accordingly. If
any expert opinion is provided to the defense, do not include this in the report. These, and protected

work-product information should be disclosed in a work-product memorandum to the attorney.

I. Review and Analysis of Official Investigations
As covered in this program, there are key areas to this task for the CFDI their reports should include:

• Identification and Assessment
• Scene Description / Investigation

• Case Investigation
• Photographs, Video and Audio Evidence

• Evidence and Disposition

• Summary and Case Disposition

These key areas will be covered in the CFDI’s report in summary. Our agency uses the following format

to provide our Review and Analysis, and then Findings (a sample report is included):
1. Incident Information

This section should include bullet points of dates, times, locations, agencies responding, reporting
and other witnesses, official case status and conclusions with dates.

2. Prosecution Discovery Reviewed and Analyzed
This section should include bullet points of the materials and agencies – law enforcement, medical

examiner, court filing, etc. This will not include any defense work-product.

Subsections will include the specific agencies, court filings, etc. and summaries of the review.
A. Each source list the records, reports, photographs, and recordings with a synopsis of each.

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