Investigations

What We Talk About On Our Way To A Crime Scene

January 28, 2013 Humor

It turns out that Wayne, my investigator, and I both do the laundry in our households. Apparently, neither one of us has a wife who understands that you cannot put whites in with the colored clothes, set the dial to hot water, and then expect to have the whites coming out like they looked before. [...]

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The Gold Standard in Witness Credibility

January 24, 2013 Investigations

My investigator Wayne Marshall gets an A+ for his testimony yesterday at trial. Of course, I am biased. Marshall is everything you could want in a witness: He knows his stuff. He is well-spoken, direct, straight-forward. He answers the questions you ask of him and nothing more. He doesn’t try to anticipate what he thinks [...]

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Confronting the Complainant Before Trial

November 24, 2012 Investigations

If you want to get a complainant to speak with you before trial, ask the complainant about his or her injury. People love to talk about how they have been wronged. The floodgate opens. My investigator Wayne and I approach an interview with the complainant as if we are preparing for the Superbowl. After all, [...]

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Ode to My Investigator

January 21, 2012 Investigations

I botched the investigation. I went to the store on Upper Wisconsin Avenue in which my client was alleged to have committed a robbery.  While there, I neglected to look for a critical piece of evidence:  whether or not there was a surveillance camera over the cash register.  As a result, my investigator Wayne Marshall [...]

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On Hoopties and Shell Stations: The Benefits of Visiting a Crime Scene

July 22, 2011 Investigations

Yet another benefit to private practice – as opposed to being a public defender – is that you have more time for investigations. Wayne, my investigator, actually handles most of my on-scene investigations.  As a former cop, he knows what he is doing. He has a great way with clients and witnesses. He also knows [...]

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On Working With An Investigator

February 26, 2011 Investigations

One of the frustrations of being a public defender was the need to deal with sometimes unrealistic expectations.  You don’t always value what you don’t pay for, and clients would sometimes have unrealistic expectations about what an investigator could accomplish on their behalf. “I’m sure the whole thing was captured by one of those video [...]

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