Page 3 - Death_and_Injury_Investigations-AFI-LLC-June_2023

Death and Injury Investigations – AFI-LLC – June 2023 3 of 6

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.

Private investigation involves finding, reviewing, analyzing, documenting and reporting evidence. Evidence is any factual
information that tends to prove or disprove an assertion.
• Evidence can be both insignificant or a key component of a case – review and analysis is important;
• It is easily destroyed, lost, overlooked, altered, even contaminated. Look for indications of this;
• Verify the chain of evidence. The integrity of the evidence is unyielding. This includes ethics – information without
integrity is not evidence, and only evidence is admissible and considered by the attorney and trier-of-fact;
• Consider if evidence may have been overlooked or discarded as being unrelated, insignificant or unimportant. A
shoe lying in the hallway, although belonging to the decedent, may be as important as if it belonged to the killer;
• Look in the overlooked and less obvious places. Evidence can be transient in itself, can be moved or hidden, or can
be influenced by the environment.

Connecting the trace evidence to the person(s), scene(s) and instrument(s), together with an additional direct and
circumstantial evidence, will develop a picture of the incident under investigation. Following this evidence may eliminate
persons, scenes and instruments from any involvement in the incident.

As an investigator, you may not be closely involved in the detailed aspects of fatal and non-fatal event investigations.
Perhaps your primary role involves interviews, background investigations, documentary photographs and videos – all
very common and very important. You may ask – and many do – how is this understanding important to my interviews,
or my methods of photographing scenes, or reviewing the photographs, records and reports from law enforcement and
adverse party investigations?

The answer is simple – education, training and experience. When interviewing a witness to an assault or homicide
involving a weapon – what do they describe seeing? How does in compare to other sources of evidence, including your
own investigations? If the witness describes a black over-under shotgun – are you familiar with this? If the photographs
and reports showed a rifle, or a side-by-side shotgun – can you immediately ask the appropriate questions to determine
if the witness is mistaken, telling their best recollection, or is unreliable? If they describe a motor vehicle collision and
how the vehicles collided, including indicating who is at fault – is this consistent with the damage you observed?

These understandings are vital to conducting accurate and detailed investigations. They are vital to your attorney-client
having the best information and evidence available to them. As their legal investigator you have more than a role – you
may be drafting reports and giving testimony relative to these questions.

One of the passions of investigations is the knowledge needed, learned, and applied – and it never stops. Dean is going
on 35 years, and Karen over 25 years – 60 years combined experience. Its not enough. We are proud of our experience
and passions – and we are proud of our profession and colleagues. It is an honor to know and work with the finest.

PRIDE – Professional Reliable Investigators Defining Excellence!

Thank You!

Copyright © 2023 Associates in Forensic Investigations, All Rights Reserved