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review and report do not address these contributory findings, and the totality of the event and circumstances. Other
evidence on the body placed the decedent's head at a lower point of gravity than his legs and feet. In totality, these are
important evidence to the above point and correct circumstances.

Then we read the full law enforcement and coroner investigations (or lack thereof), with scene and autopsy photographs
to determine what did and did not happen.

What were the circumstances? What was the evidence? What were the findings?
Details at www.DeathCaseReview.com/sample-cases

August Commentary: Investigative Facts

Investigations are not about a single fact, a single source, a single report, or a
single photograph. One may be important; however, it is the empirical information
of multiple facts, sources, reports, and photographs which are the investigations.

Whether a personal injury, accident, homicide or suicide – the myths may
overshadow the facts. Our judicial system is based on multiple empirical facts –
direct and circumstantial. These facts are the map to the truth, are as close as can
be determined. Is a single frame from a video, or a single statement from a report
a fact? Yes. Are they conclusive? Possibly, and usually not. Perspective, no pun
intended, is another way to look at this concept. If you have a single photograph
or video frame the perception may be a person reaching for a weapon. As the
perspective changes from one angle to another, so does the perception – and the person was buttoning their shirt. This
is true of witnesses – and is, in part, why they see and hear different things from the same event – perspective and
perception.

When interviewing witnesses in a personal injury case, such as a motor vehicle collision, it is important to know their
position and how they may have been influenced by their surroundings. For example, a passenger in a vehicle making
observations will be different from the driver – they have different reasons for their observations. A pedestrian on one
corner will have different observations from another witness at the opposite corner, even if standing right next to them.
Never ignore a potential witness, particularly assuming they would see or hear the same. We often hear this from other
witnesses, such as a driver listed on a traffic accident report disclosing an unlisted passenger and telling us they saw the
same thing. The fact is they see and hear different things. These may be exculpatory or inculpatory to the investigation.

The same holds true for a criminal defense case – facts, multiple facts. These facts will tell a story, and the accuracy of
the story is only with the accuracy of the presentation and interpretation of the facts. Physical evidence applies to all
types of litigation and is most often seen in criminal litigation. Physical evidence is said to speak for itself; however, it
doesn’t speak to the whole story. In fact, circumstantial evidence – a collection of indirect evidence – may do so and in a
better way. Physical evidence can be direct or circumstantial, and a combination of them.

For example, as the story goes, a hunter in a cabin wakes up and sees rabbit tracks in the snow. This is pretty simple and
demonstrates physical evidence being direct evidence – a rabbit had been there. Is this the whole story? No, there is
more to the story if the right observations and questions asked. First, how many sets of tracks – any coming to the cabin
or only from the cabin? Next, how was the hunter certain they were rabbit tracks? When did the hunter go to bed and
when did it start snowing – had it been snowing before or during his sleep? Through simple questions, the legal
investigator learns a rabbit crossed in front of his cabin after it started snowing, which was after the witness went to
bed. In a criminal defense case, a timeline is important – and is usually a collection of circumstantial evidence – empirical
facts – together with direct evidence.

In a homicide case the victim is found in the front yard, face down, with multiple gunshots to his back. The assailant ran
and the event was not visually witnessed, only heard by various neighbors hearing multiple gunshots. Some state there

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