Page 49 - CFDI Guide

Certified Forensic Death Investigator (CFDI) Program
Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI, CFDI-Expert and Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI, CFDI-SME
Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council (CDITC) Accredited

Because the CFDI may venture out to conduct death / SBI investigations which are not in criminal defense
or even civil litigation – perhaps for families – some cautions need pointed out. First, we strongly

recommend being retained for any litigation investigation by the attorney – not by a family or party to the
case. Think the importance of attorney work-product and attorney-client confidentiality and both extend

to agents of the attorney. These may not be solid when working directly with a family or party to the

litigation. Next, in the event you do take cases for families (our agency may be involved in select family
questioned death cases) treat them the same. Use the Investigative Protocol and remember your mission
is the facts and truth. Too often we have seen cases of investigators jumping in and trying to investigate a

questioned death based solely on what they have been told by the family or client. The best of intentions

will waste time and money if you do not begin with a review and analysis of the official investigations first.
Just as you do in a criminal defense case. It is truly a puzzle why investigators will change how they

conduct investigations – by putting the cart after the horse – because a family has told them a death did
not happen as the official investigations concluded. As a final caution – work considered ‘expert’ may not

hold the same confidentiality as non-expert. In civil and criminal litigation the expert witness is disclosed,
and all of their reports and notes may be requested and disclosed. If there is any potential for litigation –

work directly with the attorney.

What we most often see, either from a family or investigator, is something like this:
• A private investigator – experienced or not – has ‘investigated’ the case by interviewing witnesses,

parties, and visiting the scene. We fully support this. But…
• The private investigator either did not review the official investigation records, reports, and

photographs and/or did not request and receive all they should have. They have entered into an
investigation without being fully informed. They don’t know if the Cause and Manner of Death are

accurate to the evidence, or flawed – they assume, from the client, it is flawed. And…
• Without the level of education, training and experience you have as a CFDI they do not know what

to look for in the death, what to question, what to examine, and the nuances particular to deaths

and investigating them.

Criminal defense investigations are serious investigations as a person’s Constitutional rights – their very
freedoms and liberty are literally at stake. The criminal defense investigator and CFDI – their clients –

cannot afford to go into an investigation uninformed and without the resources to do so. Full medicolegal

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