working with an investigator - district of columbia bar · what an’t an investigator do? •lie....

Working With An Investigator

What Can An Investigator Do?

What Can an Investigator Do?

• Find and interview witnesses.

• Interview your client.

• Be a witness

• Go places you can’t – or won’t

• Gather documents, find new evidence.

• Find what you may have missed in records you already have.

Finding an Investigator

• Listservs

• http://www.misahq.com

Match the job …… to the person

• Surveillance

• Background checks

• Witness interviews

– What kind of witnesses?

– Where?

• Data analysis

• Retired law enforcement

• Adventurous liberal arts majors (including former journalists)

• Law students*

≠

Ask About Skills and Resources

• Databases

– Tracers

– IRB

– TLO

– Motor vehicle data

• The Basics

– Car

– Camera

– Releases

• Skills

– Familiarity with subject matter

• Mental health

• Criminal

• Insurance

– Internet

– GPS

– Video

You’ve found someone who seems right. Now what?

Hit the Streets?

Discovery Dump?

Talk About Expectations

Don’t assume your way is the way.

Talk About Money First

• Investigators can’t enforce a contract to pay against someone who never signed.

• Talk about your budget. Physical work takes more time.

• Retainer agreements can include language about your expectations of the investigator.

Notes During Interviews?

Notes During Interviews

• Depends on your preference. My go-to way:

• Always

– Prosecution witnesses

• Sometimes

– Defense witnesses

• No

– Nervous witnesses

– Sometimes civil cases

All actions cause a reaction

Communication

• Updates over the phone

• Email

• Memos

• Text

• Emoji?

Investigating Santa

Memos?

Memo questions

• Will it be discoverable?

Memo questions

• Will it be discoverable?

• Does your investigator have a photographic memory?

Memo questions

• Will it be discoverable?

• Does your investigator have a photographic memory?

• Do you want to memorialize the good stuff or document inconsistent statements. (Short and sweet v. kitchen sink.

Memo questions

• What format?

– Draft

– Bullet points

– Narrative

Be Realistic

• Investigation takes time.

• Investigators can’t change facts, memories, or emotions. We may bring you bad facts, but we didn’t make them.

What CAN’T an Investigator Do?

What CAN’T an Investigator Do?

• Lie.In certain cases, that includes

pretexting

• Get witnesses to change their story.

• Find things that don’t exist.

• Use the internet to read minds or locate people who don’t partake in the 21st Century. The internet is not a crystal ball.

Don’t you hate it when your clients tell you how to do your job?

• We feel the same. BUT… we always respect a lawyer who’s an investigator at heart and respects the craft.

Why interview witnesses?

Why interview witnesses?

Find out what they will say.

Get dirt on another witness.

Find helpful information.

Create trust.

Find out what the other side is doing.

Where are the witnesses?

Who Are The Witnesses?

Sorry, I lied.

The Internet

Is a Crystal Ball*

*Except when it’s not.

Resources

• http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us

• http://douweosinga.com/projects/googlehacks

• http://registers.maryland.gov/main/

• https://services.wcc.state.md.us

• https://mdlandrec.net

• http://dclibrary.org/research/databases

• https://gov.propertyinfo.com/dc-washington/

Looking for John Smith who works at UnderArmour

Not much better

Hack it up

Better

How to contact witnesses?

Just call them, it’s cheaper.

Suck it up and …

Talking to witnesses

• Smile

• Think about questions, and answers, first. (Expectations.)

• Know who you’re talking to.

Cultural Intelligence

We Can’t Change A Witness’s Mind

But Sometimes We Can Change How TheyThink About What TheyRemember

Records!

Where does a witness work?

• Linked in, Indeed

• Real Estate Docs

• Workers Comp

• Divorce

• Child Support

• Civil and criminal records

• Landlord tenant court

History of lying

• Criminal and Civil Court

• Liens

• Workers Comp

• Facebook/Instagram

Why can’t I just send a paralegal?

• What’s a court clerk’s favorite word?

NO!

NO!

NO!

NO!

NO!

Google Like Crazy

Presenting/Preserving Evidence

• Maps

• Measurements

– Calibrate, calibrate, calibrate

• Photos

• Screen shots

• Even better ScreenFlow or similar

ScreenFlow

We share a client

• Talk about attorney-client privilege.

• Whenever possible, and especially in criminal cases, introduce the investigator and the client.

Talking to your client

• Your client may not feel the same need to impress/not disappoint an investigator

• Your investigator may be a good translator –legal jargon is scary. And you may not understand your client.

• You may not really even know your client

Who wouldn’t trust this face?

Who wouldn’t trust this face?

Police say a 15-year-old Boy Scout charged with killing his parents and two younger brothers shot them as they slept, then returned a day later after spending time withfriends to stage the discovery of their deaths.

Know How The Sausage Gets Made

• Don’t ask a PI to “just get it done.”

• Know the rules

• What you don’t know can hurt you.

Anthony Pellicano

• Sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for illegal wiretaps

• Co-defendant was lawyer Terry Christensen who got three years

A Good PI Will Say No

• If you ask them to break the law.

• If you ask them to interview a witness who is represented.

• If you ask them to lie.

• You are not the PI’s attorney and therefore she can’t use your advice as a defense if she breaks the law on your orders.

More Resources

• Wedding registries (Target, Macy’s, https://www.zola.com)

• Past weather http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/customer-support

• http://weather.org/weatherorg_records_and_averages.htm

• https://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx• https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/docketsheets.aspx• https://www.nycourts.gov• http://www.txdps.state.tx.us• https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/