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| Image courtesy of Colleen Collins, owner Guns, Gams and Gumshoes: http://writingpis.wordpress. |
Los Angeles, CA—A lot of people have little knowledge of what
private eyes do beyond what they see on TV.
That’s often a distorted image conjured up by a screenwriter based on
perceptions obtained from yet other entertainment sources.
Private eyes do a lot of different things like cheating
investigations, accident investigations, and bodyguard work. They are often involved in efforts to prevent
theft and investigate the numerous ways people take what’s not theirs. They do lots of interviews and interrogations
and often serve court orders, subpoenas and such.
I wear two investigative hats. One is doing various investigations for
lawyers and their clients usually involving litigation. The other is producing and or reporting news
stories primarily for television news or documentary filmmakers. The better private eyes really understand government record keeping and knows where to find documents that will make or
break the cases.
As for criminal defense work, it’s somewhat like the
fictional investigator Paul Drake that worked with Perry Mason. However the PI is absolutely vital when
someone depends on getting a fair trial when they may lose their life or
liberty because of an over-blown or phony allegation.
I have seen countless foolhardy lawyers work without an
investigator. They lead clients to
believe they are performing that function when by law they really can’t. If a lawyer discovers anything important
while investigating for his client then he becomes a witness. Once a lawyer becomes a witness he can no
loner represent his client.
Lawyers all know that good investigators are really
rare. Then there are those that simply
dictate what they want and stupidly refuse a PI’s suggestions. That’s perhaps because they never found a
competent investigator before.
A criminal defense team is like a football team. There is the lead lawyer, clerical staff and
in anything serious, expert witnesses must be found, vetted and brought inside
the case. Then there is the
investigator. The lead lawyer is the
running back and the PI is the quarterback.
If the accused is lucky enough to bring the PI early he can
gather information and evidence while the cops are still investigating. Crime scene examination, searching for
surveillance camera video, witnesses and physical evidence is much more
effective if done quickly rather than months later.
Cops and prosecutors usually tell their witnesses to not
talk about cases or give interviews before the court tries the accused. A competent investigator can usually get interviews despite the best efforts made to prevent that. There is usually no law preventing witnesses
from talking to anyone but prosecutors want to keep the defense attorneys in
the dark but there is a larger problem.
If the prosecution witnesses are lying their stories will
crumble quickly because they can’t remember their earlier fibs. They will make inconsistent statements. The PI can lock in witnesses’ stories before
cops and prosecutors that want to spin these tales in a better light improperly
influence them.
I called the PI the quarterback because he somehow gets some
evidence. He must pass the evidence like
a football to the lead lawyer so that the football can be rushed to the goal
line. If the quarterback never gets the
football to pass to the running back the team will never score.
A good investigator will investigate the state’s witnesses
looking for any kind of impeachment material. That includes criminal and civil
court records, business license records, and psychiatric histories along with
the use of prescription drugs, street drugs or alcohol. Friends, enemies, ex-spouses and lovers
usually can provide a treasure trove of impeachment material if the PI bothers
to do his job.
A decent investigator brought in early enough can often
derail a prosecution right in its tracks.
Evan a lawyer can’t do that! Of course the lawyer must present that
crucial evidence to the prosecutor before he has obtained a Grand Jury
indictment.
If a criminal case is headed for trial PI and the lawyers
need to argue the merits of the evidence among themselves. The benefit is that the evidence is
tested. If you can’t win the defense
argument in the office it will be even more difficult before a jury.
Frankly I’ve never seen a criminal case where so-called
victims or government witnesses don’t lie about some aspect of the case. Exposing lies is really what defense
investigation is all about. The sad
truth is that too often cops also lie.
That happens even when it’s a fellow cop who has been accused of a
crime. In our world lies roll off
people’s tongues routinely even while they are under oath!
There are those people that lie even when there is no
advantage to be made. If the could
achieve the same result by telling the truth they would rather lie! It’s a significant reality of human behavior.
Another sad truth is when prosecutors discover that their
witnesses have lied in pursuit of the conviction of an innocent accused perjury
prosecutions are nearly non-existent.
On the other hand if defense witnesses get’s caught in a lie
there is a perjury indictment issued well before sundown.
I’ve also seen innocent people lie or try to arrange phony
alibies in desperate efforts to avoid wrongful convictions. Once any defendant gets caught in the tiniest
of lies juries are unforgiving.
For any citizen under investigation by the police they
should simply not say a word and ask for a lawyer. Remember Martha Stewart’s debacle a few yeas
ago? Rather than ask for a lawyer she
talked to the FBI. In the end they only
thing they could prosecute her on and put her in prison for was for lying to
the FBI during her interview!
The last thing I will mention is cost. Hiring a lawyer for a serious felony will
financially destroy most people. Paying
for a PI in addition to the lawyer seems like a luxury but imagine what your
lawyer will be up against if someone is not tossing him evidence to win the
case? Too many layers only seem to care that they get their fee and then they
don’t lose sleep over not having a PI.
Below is a video that takes you to my world. Watch the courtroom scene and you may
recognize my client Danny Bonaduce who was in court over a nasty event with a transvestite.
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