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Investigating Without Playing into Drama

7/14/2015

3 Comments

 
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Investigating Without Playing Into Drama

As investigators we are surrounded by different types of drama.  It might be cheating drama, murder drama, suicide drama, trial drama; insurance fraud drama and the list could go on and on.  You, as an investigator understand the picture.

What we, as level headed, fact finding, responsible investigators should strive for, is to down play the drama of clients and never create or feed into the drama.  There isn’t much to watch on television now except drama filled reality shows, to include judges, investigators, police officers and just about any topic you want to name.  Google reality TV and you will be provided with numerous websites for your viewing pleasure. 

The players in real life drama are already drowning in so much over whelming information that they might have a hard time deciphering facts from opinions.  So, we as outsiders, and if you are a hired investigator, you are an outsider - you are not part of their drama - and that is something an investigator must always remember.  Even if you need to have your own silent inner mantra “It is not my drama, it is not my drama”, repeat this over and over, to yourself of course.  As a professional investigator you must be able to review a case, or talk with a client about their case, without feeling the need to interject your own dramatic thoughts and ideas.

Most professional investigators can speak with a client objectively and give them factual possibilities of whether a case is within the scope of their expertise to be hired.  We must be able to decipher the facts and evidence in order to help the client with their specific needs - whether those needs are on a personal level or involve a court case.

You never know when or where you might meet a potential client.  This scenario might ring familiar to most of you, you are conversing at a casual gathering, and someone asks what you do for a living.  The minute you tell them you are an investigator you get the usual, “how neat”, “I’ve always wanted to do that”, “how exciting”, “wow, just like CSI”, etcetera.  Some investigators feel the need to beef up how exciting life as an investigator truly is, so they dramatize the truth.  If you are a level headed investigator you might politely tell them it’s a job, and yes, some cases are interesting.  Of course you don’t tell them that depending on the type of investigative work you do that there might be down time in the business.  And if you are self-employed, that perhaps some of your “detective work” might be sitting at home, in front of your computer wearing your pajamas – that just wouldn’t be “cool”.

Once it is known that you are an investigator, you might get several people asking you numerous questions regarding either something going on in their life, a relative of theirs, or someone they know.  They will always want to give you some details of the situation they want to talk about.  Notice the word “some” and expect you to give them complete answers to their situation.  The best thing to do is to offer them one of your business cards and tell them to give you a call. 

If they are serious about possibly hiring you, they will make the call, and when you hear more about the case and ask your brief questions, then you can offer the person whether you might be able to help them with their case and then give them an idea of what it might cost.  The cost of the job will weed out the ones who just want to talk and talk and talk, or the serious ones who truly want to find answers to their dilemma. 

Always remember if you feel you do not have the expertise regarding the type of case the person has, just be honest and offer them a referral to someone who might be able to help them.  This shows you are not just out to make money and truly want to help them with closure or answers. 

One thing we have run into over and over again is when someone will call regarding a family member who they think was murdered and the coroner has ruled it a suicide.  These cases are very tough, and the families need factual answers so they can eventually work towards acceptance and be able to move on with their lives.  This is what we strive for, to give the facts of the case and to answer factually all of their questions. 

We have people who call and ask if we can tell by looking at a photo what happened.  Believe it or not that very question is also asked by professionals who know better.  The appropriate answer is always no and any investigator who tells someone that they can look at a photo and tell them what happened, has no business being an investigator, unless of course that investigator saw what had happened and snapped the photograph themselves.  Yes, a photograph can help answer some questions, and a photograph does “speak” to us, but it does not give all of the answers and complete an investigation.

Unless you are standing there watching an event unfold, you cannot possibly give a factual scenario, and even if you are standing there watching an event unfold, you cannot get into another person’s head and know their thought processes as to why they did or did not do something to themselves or someone else.  We cannot pretend to know much by hearing a few sentences or taking a gander at a photo or two.  We are professionals and should act that way by not getting distracted and sucked into the drama that is happening in someone else’s life.  

If an investigator is shown a photograph of a deceased person lying supine with what appears to be blood underneath their head, do not assume and then blurt out that it looks like a murder.  You do not know the circumstances and facts of how that person ended up in that photo.  If you tell someone it looks like a murder – you are playing into and creating more unnecessary drama.  

A professional investigator might tell the person who is showing the photograph that it is difficult to give an answer without knowing the details of the case however; it does look like there is trauma to the head, body or whatever the case might be.  Do not ever say, “Well that looks like cold blooded murder” and never put those words in any report - that is pure drama -  and yes we have seen those words written by a “professional” as a conclusion. 

The bottom line and understandably, clients are usually filled with anxiety about their case no matter what type of case they have.  What they do not need is a professional investigator giving them false hope, by telling them “it sounds like a murder to me” or any other conclusions without proper inquiry and knowledge of the facts.  That is wrong and certainly not professional.  You might want to say along the lines of, it sounds like some of what you are telling me should be looked into further, and offer them your expertise, or pass the case on to another investigator. 

It makes it very difficult to convince a client of the facts when they have had at least one other person feed into their drama.  The main reason is because they have already made up their mind as to what has happened and they will continue to seek out that dramatic investigator who will eventually side with their thoughts and opinions, not the facts of the case.  In one case, we were the 4th investigator hired, and thankfully we were the 4th who came up with the same factual conclusion.  No doubt that person is continuing to hire investigators in hopes an investigator will eventually see things their way, dramatics versus facts. The sad reality is, if they search long enough, they will end up finding such an investigator.

Hopefully that type of dramatic investigator is not a professional reading this article, and if so, please rethink how you respond to people who are in need of factual truths of their situation, and not dramatic emotional ideas. 

The majority of us know not to feed into drama, but there are those few who feel the need to dramatize the situation whether it be their own or someone else’s.  Perhaps it makes them feel more important as they sit in front of their computer wearing pajamas.
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Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI
Colorado Licensed Private Investigator PI2.0000019
Cheyenne WY Licensed Private Investigator & Security (No. OL-15-31146)
Subject Matter Expert Consultant (national)
Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator
Certified in Medicolegal Death Investigations / former Deputy Coroner

Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
A Rocky Mountain West Agency
Expert Consultants and Legal Investigators
Personal Injury, Negligence & Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate Litigation

www.DeathCaseReview.com ~ beersks@DeathCaseReview.com
CO - (970) 480-7793 Office / TXT and (970) 480-7794 Fax
WY - (307) 222-0136 Office / TXT and (307) 222-0138 Fax
'Quaero Indicium' - To Find The Evidence

Keep informed - visit and 'Like' us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/4N6Associates and our agency blog at www.MedicolegalPI.com
Listen to Facts & Forensics at www.GIMG.tv
On-Demand Distance Learning at www.InvestigativeCourses.com



3 Comments

Autopsy of Freddie Gray - Accident or Homicide?

7/3/2015

2 Comments

 
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Baltimore Sun - "Autopsy of Freddie Gray shows 'high-energy' impact – death ruled Homicide"

When we see these media stories, we expect our phones and emails to buzz with questions.  What does this mean.  Our standard response begins with, ‘without having all the information the medical examiner had, we simply do not know.’  In medicolegal investigation, determinations are made based on the medical evidence – not legal / criminal statutes or undue influences.  Also in medicolegal investigation, this determination is based on a neutral investigation by the coroner / medical examiner’s office.  There are five Manners of Death:  Natural, Accident, Suicide, Homicide and Undetermined.  From Dean’s book, ‘Practical Methods for Legal Investigations’ (www.PracticalMethodsForLegalInvestigations.com); our education, training and experience; and our extensive lectures and death investigation course (www.InvestigativeCourses.com), below are the definitions of Homicide and Accident.  These determinations are based on the medicolegal preponderance, not the legal findings, of one Manner of Death to the exclusion of the others.  Undetermined is for those rare times in which there is not an exclusion by preponderance.

  • Homicide is the killing of a human being by another human being.  The legal definition includes intentional and unintentional acts.  A state execution or personal self-defense are examples of legal and medical homicides; whereas a death from a motor vehicle accident is a medical accident but could be charged as a legal vehicular homicide.
  • Accident is a death caused by an unexpected or unplanned event.  This may include negligence, or what is criminally charged as a homicide, such as vehicular homicide; or civilly as negligent wrongful death.
  • Undetermined is used when the information pointing to one manner of death is no more compelling than one or more other competing manners of death in thorough consideration of all available information.  For example, a gunshot wound without determining intent to inflict the wound would be ‘Undetermined’ – Suicide versus Accident.

According to information reported in the Baltimore Sun (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-freddie-gray-autopsy-20150623-story.html#page=1), “Freddie Gray suffered a single ‘high-energy injury’ to his neck and spine — most likely caused when the police van in which he was riding suddenly decelerated.”  The state medical examiner's office concluded that Gray's death could not be ruled an accident, and was instead a homicide, because officers failed to follow safety procedures "through acts of omission."  He was not belted in, but his wrists and ankles were shackled, putting him "at risk for an unsupported fall during acceleration or deceleration of the van."

Some may consider this Homicide due to the ‘unintentional act’.  That is to say, were it not for:  1) the decedent being unrestrained; and 2) the careless driving of the police van – the death would not have resulted.  However, there must still be knowledge, such as with a Suicide, the act may result in death.  As an analogy, if a couple are driving home and the driver is intoxicated and through negligence the vehicle is crashed and results in the unrestrained passenger being killed – the Manner of Death is Accident, not Homicide.  If both were killed, by this ruling (as reported) the driver’s death would be considered Accident.  However, if the driver intentionally crashed the vehicle knowing it would cause death, the Manners would be Homicide and Suicide for the passenger and driver, respectively.

Of importance are two components:  1) reasonable expectation of a life-threatening injury; and 2) intent vs. negligence.  Assuming the first component is determined, the second becomes the factor in the determining Homicide (by intent) or Accident (by negligence).  This is important in the Freddy Gray ruling of Homicide.  As an example, if a person were operating a vehicle in such an intentional manner that serious bodily injury or death would be known to likely occur.  Should there be a fatal event, it is possible the Manner of Death would be Homicide.  In our example, perhaps the driver and passenger were arguing, with intoxication not being an issue, and the vehicle were intentionally driven off the road or into an obstruction.  In the Freddy Gray case, if the driver were intentionally driving in such as a manner that injury was likely and such injuries resulted in death, a ruling of Homicide would be appropriate.  Recently, James Brady died – Press Secretary to then President Ronald Reagan at the time of the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.  It was determined that he died due to complications from the gunshot wound, and was therefore ruled a Homicide.

Circumstances and evidence from the medical and investigative processes are the underlying factors in determination of Cause and Manner of Death.  It is easy for the lay person to confuse medicolegal Manner of Death and civil or criminal liabilities and acts.  However, it is straight forward for a medical examiner (forensic pathologist) or medicolegal death investigator.  This does not have any direct impact on criminal charges or potential civil litigation, such as in a wrongful death action.

When learning of high-profile cases in the media, we need take a step back and look at the entire scenario before jumping to false conclusions.

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© 2015 by Associates in Forensic Investigations
Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI and Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI
Colorado Licensed Private Investigators PI2.0000050 and PI2.0000019
Cheyenne WY Licensed Private Investigators & Security (No. OL-15-31146)
Board Certified Legal Investigator / Expert Consultant (national)
Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigators
Certified in Medicolegal Death Investigations / former Deputy Coroners

Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
A Rocky Mountain West Agency
Expert Consultants and Legal Investigators
Personal Injury, Negligence & Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate Litigation

www.DeathCaseReview.com ~ beersda@DeathCaseReview.com
CO - (970) 480-7793 Office / TXT and (970) 480-7794 Fax
WY - (307) 222-0136 Office / TXT and (307) 222-0138 Fax
'Quaero Indicium' - To Find The Evidence

Keep informed - visit and 'Like' us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/4N6Associates and our agency blog at www.MedicolegalPI.com
Listen to Facts & Forensics at www.GIMG.tv
On-Demand Distance Learning at www.InvestigativeCourses.com


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