Page 3 - Post-Event Photography - AFI-LLC June 2022

Post-Event Photographs – AFI-LLC – June 2022 3 of 5

Being on an active scene is an experience – and if you have this experience, it is of high value to your client and the
assignment. However, investigators in the private sector are not going to be responding to scenes – and they are often
retained long after the event is over and scene has been released and altered. You should still visit the scene and
document it with all of your observations.

You may be responding the day, week, month or year after an event. The scene may change little, or be unrecognizable.
We went to document the scene of a multi-vehicle fatal collision on an interstate about a year after the event. We
learned complete reconstruction of the interchange began shortly after the event. By the time a year had passed, it was
not at all the same scene. We were able to find landmarks to help identify the area and document it as found. Other
times we have been to the scene within a few days – still seeing artifacts of the collision and documenting those. In one
case of a very remote mountain highway, almost two years after, a witness gave us GPS coordinates and using Google
Earth to routinely see what the area looked like – we found artifacts of the collision and of the state patrol investigation.
The ‘Google car’ had been through the area (as indicated by the date stamp on the images) with a few days of the event.

Victim
Any person involved in an event, injured or not, may be a victim of the events – intentional or not, and civil and/or
criminal. The official investigations of law enforcement are not conducted with civil litigation as a factor, and civil
litigation may arise from an event which is never criminally charged. If an investigator is not tasked with taking
photographs at the onset of a civil or criminal defense case, valuable information may not be documented and forever
lost. This is particularly true of victims. It may be days, weeks, or months – even over a year – before a case is before an
attorney. If a victim is not photographed as the healing process unfolds, or worse never photographed, valuable
information may be forever lost.

In a motor vehicle collision there may be serious injuries taking weeks to months to heal, including various medical
attention and procedures. These may be documented in the medical record, and perhaps through x-rays or other
medical imaging; however, they are too often not documented otherwise. In part, it is not the responsibility of the
medical provider to document in this manner – they treat and document according to their treatment. Here the
investigator should be tasked with – or recommend to their client if not – documenting the victim during the process.
This is not always possible, as the attorney may not be retained until medical treatment is over. Then it is like
documenting an involved vehicle after the body shop has restored the vehicle to its original condition. Because of the
work we do, we have documented events and injuries in our personal lives, and for family and friends. It can be very
valuable – from having hospital staff take a few quick photographs (at a time when there were no cell phones and
Polaroid cameras printed photographs instantly) to having cell phones in everyone’s hand. If you become aware of a
traumatic event – start documenting. Valuable information will be documented – from bruises appearing and aging to
healing, any harmful consequences of the event, and any benefits – or not – to medical treatment.

The documentation process should be over the span of the treating and healing process – from day one to day two, day
three and so on; and as the healing happens – change to every week as needed, and conclude with when maximum
medical improvement (MMI) as determined by the medical provider is reached.

Decedent
An event made be immediately fatal to an involved person, they may be transported and succumb in the hospital, they
may be released and die at a medical rehabilitation facility or home, or they may years after due to injuries sustained or
even unrelated. Here we focus on immediately fatal – for all other circumstances, follow the suggestions for victims
(above). There are two potential times in the official investigations for photographs – the scene and the autopsy (if one
is performed). These are too often seen as the only opportunities, and only documentation. From our experience at two
medical examiners offices and assisting with hundreds of autopsies, an important post-event opportunity is often missed
– at the funeral home.

There are times a body may be held by the coroner for a day or two to further document injuries (autopsy or not). This is
common in child abuse cases and others where bruising may begin to show after. Most often, this is not done – and may
not need to be. What is important is once the body is at the funeral home, if there is any question of foul play or
suspicious circumstances – photographs should be taken before and after embalming. The family may ask the funeral

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