Page 2 - Death and Injury Investigations - AFI-LLC April 2022
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Death and Injury Investigations – AFI-LLC – April 2022                                        2 of 4

        New Commentary: Death and Injury Investigations
                                  This month we briefly share our passion for death investigations and the relationship with
                                  serious bodily injury (SBI) investigations – from family questioned deaths to civil wrongful
                                  deaths, and criminal defense.

                                  In civil and criminal litigation, events of SBI are more common than deaths. Understanding
                                  the process of death investigations will give the investigator a better process to cases
                                  involving SBI. These include everything from motor vehicle collisions to aggravated
                                  assaults. Fractions of an inch, or immediate medical intervention, may be what separates
                                  an event resulting in death from one resulting in a SBI.

        In civil and criminal events, it is common to see violent deaths, sudden or unexpected deaths, unattended deaths, and
        in-custody deaths – or any of these involving a serious bodily injury (SBI) – fatal and non-fatal events. These are serious
        incidents that may result in serious criminal charges or be a cause of action in a civil or administrative action. Fractions
        of an inch or an alteration in an event, or series of events, may be the only difference between a serious bodily injury or
        death. Therefore, death investigation is not limited to homicide – an assault is a personal injury that requires similar
        investigative principles. Any component of death investigation can be applied to serious bodily injury investigation –
        from the chain of events leading to the injury and/or death, to the mechanisms of injury or death. Your case
        investigation and/or expertise includes:
        •  Criminal Defense – homicide, assault, sexual assault and abuse
        •  Civil – motor vehicle collisions, nursing home abuse, and other personal injury & death
        •  Probate – Time of Death, Manner of Death for insurance
        •  Administrative – Worker Compensation, OSHA Hearings

        Not all death scenes – or any scene – is a crime scene. They are places where an event took place – an incident scene. At
        all scenes there are actually at least two scenes: location(s) of the incident; and the injured or deceased person. If a
        crime is suspected (and all suspicious death investigations are treated as such) the incident will belong to the
        investigating law enforcement agency; and the body, together with all items on or about it, will belong to the medical
        examiner’s office. In cases of SBI the second ‘investigation’ is the medical treatment of the injured person.
        •  SBI involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious
            disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.
        •  Bodily injury is less substantial than SBI and a fatal injury is an SBI that has resulted in death. In some jurisdictions,
            such as Colorado, an injury involving a break or fracture is also classified as SBI, regardless of how minor or severe
            (i.e. finger or nose fracture).
        •  Traumatic injuries are best defined as those which require urgent medical attention and are caused by the actions of
            the victim, another person or environment within which the victim is (outdoors, indoors, vehicle, etc.).

        We conduct all medicolegal investigations and expert consultations through a process. This process is from Dean’s book
        – Practical Methods for Legal Investigations (www.PracticalMethodsForLegalInvestigations.com – CRC Press 2010) is
        conducted and completed by following five basic steps: 1) Prepare; 2) Inquire; 3) Analyze; 4) Document; and 5) Report.

        Depending on the investigation and other factors, these may be within one assignment task (i.e. scene investigation), or
        multiple tasks (multiple witness interviews). Was any transient evidence overlooked, altered or destroyed by the
        environment or scene investigation? Evidence must be documented before it is moved, inspected, analyzed, collected or
        tested. What was the official or adverse party investigation – including by insurance adjusters? Too common is the
        “Tunnel Investigation” – determining the outcome of the investigation before completed, is a ‘fatal’ error in death and
        personal injury investigation. Consider the objective and subjective information and evidence. Evidence does not lie –
        but it can be misunderstood, misinterpreted, altered or have false results. People lie – the truth may not be in their
        favor or acceptable to them. Document lack of evidence (no suicide notes, no prior illness, no skid marks), mitigating and
        supporting evidence. As an example, a bloodstain pattern on a shirt may reveal if, and how, the decedent was holding a
        firearm during a suicide. Negative evidence – contradictory – should be noted. If it is expected to be seen and is not (or
        the reverse), it must be explained.

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