Page 8 - Professional Investigators Targeted - AFI-LLC Newsletter January 2021

Professional Investigators Targeted - AFI-LLC Newsletter January 2021

News From Around Our Profession
We are dedicated to sharing important news from clients, colleagues and friends about the
news - good and bad - from and about our profession. Our thanks to all who help
contribute. Feel free to email us with any news you have about you, your agency, your
association, and others...

Is Your Agency or Association Offering Webinars?
Our agency is available to help you with various topics and virtual speaking
engagements.

Here is a live clip from one we did the beginning of September for the Florida Association of Licensed Investigators (FALI)
- Motor Vehicle Death and SBI Investigations www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2758800377778586

If you, or your association, is offering continuing education webinars or events – we are glad to share in our newsletters.

Why Visit the Collision Scene?
(Al Duncan, ACTAR - Warren Forensics SC)
If you are a collision investigator, a visit to the collision scene is something you want to do. No matter how much time
has passed since the crash compared to the review of the case, the information that can be gleaned from walking
through the area is valuable. We aren’t always given the option, but it is very beneficial, here is why.
-- continued at www.warrenforensics.com/2020/04/20/why-visit-the-collision-scene

We strongly advise all legal investigators visit the incident scene and document as soon as possible. For more information
about why and how, please contact us for past related articles and continuing education.

Testimony Excluded After Expert is Unable to Rule Out Other Theories
(Forensic Expert Witness Association – from The Expert Institute)
A federal appellate court in Iowa recently upheld a plaintiff expert witness’s exclusion in a workplace product liability
case for their failure to satisfy the requirements of Federal Rules of Evidence 702. The decision in Hirchak v. W.W.
Grainger, Inc., No. 19-2642 (8th Cir. Nov. 17, 2020) amplifies the importance, per Rule 702, for experts to base their
opinions on sufficient facts, including accounting for obvious alternative explanations. The ruling also reminds experts to
keep their opinions within their area of expertise when participating in legal matters.
-- continued at www.expertinstitute.com/resources/insights/testimony-excluded-after-expert-is-unable-to-rule-out-
other-theories

Expert and non-expert analysis and investigations should rely on the ACE-V scientific method (Analysis, Comparison,
Evaluation and Verification). See Dean’s article, ‘An Expert Consultation May Save the Day’ in NALI’s The Legal
Investigator, Fall 2015 (www.bluetoad.com/publication/index.php?m=14458&i=281566&p=8)

Photo Documentation of Abuse: Key Considerations
(Evidence Technology Magazine)
A look at some common questions asked by professionals who document evidence of abuse to collect “diagnostic-
quality photographic documentation” of exam findings, and protect, store, and release these images. Here are a few
common questions to implement photo documentation.
-- continued at
https://read.nxtbook.com/wordsmith/evidence_technology/december_2020/photo_documentation.html

Having reviewed thousands of injury photographs, including child abuse, this article points to the very important
considerations of photographic documentation. In addition, a copy of the original image file should be used – not a scan,
photocopy, or embedded image (i.e. PowerPoint often used in testimony), whether color or black and white. In a post-
conviction child abuse case, such photographs and presentations were vital to discovering conflicting information to
witness and nurse testimony. This is because resolution – important details – are often lost.

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