| IDAHO DETECTIVE AGENCY & Paralegal Services |
Pretrial Investigations:
- We provide pretrial investigations for the defense attorney, secure statements either written or audio, conduct
surveillance, complete activity investigations.
One of the first things that the investigator must do is to verify and validate the investigation conducted by
law enforcement officers and agencies. Far too often, police identify a suspect and then seek to build a
prosecutable case against that individual. In doing this, they sometimes slant information or cast information in the
light most harmful to the defendant, ignoring other possible suspects. A criminal defense investigator
will review the police investigation and re-interview witnesses to find changes in their stories and to develop new
and independent leads.
Seeking out new and unidentified witnesses is just as vital in preparing the defense case. These new witnesses
often provide information that contradicts the “facts” upon which the prosecution is basing its case.
Having the ability to properly evaluate witnesses both as to their truthfulness and veracity, as well as the image
that they will convey to a jury should they be called upon to testify. This often requires the investigator to learn
bout each witness in order to discover if there is anything in their personal background and/or their physical or
mental condition that can be used effectively either to bolster or attack their testimony.
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Cold Case Investigations:
- Violent or major crime, typically, cold cases are violent or other major felony crimes, such as murder or rape which
unlike unsolved minor crimes are generally not subject to a statute of limitations. Sometimes disappearances can
also be considered cold cases if the victim has been not seen or heard from for some time. Other cases are cold
when the crime, usually through discovery of human remains, is discovered well after the fact.
Identifying a suspect in a case is considered unsolved until a suspect has been identified, charged, and tried for the
crime. A case that goes to trial and does not result in a conviction can also be kept on the books pending new
evidence. Many times, those investigating the case have a suspect in mind but have not been able to find evidence
sufficient to charge the suspect with the crime -- especially since most suspects are not forthcoming with a
confession. Other times a viable suspect has been overlooked or simply ignored due to then-flimsy circumstantial
evidence, the presence of a likelier suspect (who is later proven to be innocent), or a tendency of investigators to
zero in on someone else to the exclusion of other others -- known as "tunnel vision".
Even in other cases a suspect never even considered before or even unknown emerges mainly through forensic or
DNA evidence. This is usually the case in brutally violent homicides, such as rape or sexual assault.
Mitigation Investigations:
A mitigation investigator examines the defendant’s life beginning as early as conception. The investigation is carried on
through their infancy, childhood, adolescent, teen and adult years. The main goal is to gather this information to assist the
jury in viewing the defendant as a person, not as a criminal. An expert in trauma mitigation, explains the relationship
between a person’s life history and mitigation as, “Mitigation evidence pertains to the offender’s life and personal
attributes, including the milieu in which that person was raised, and effects of their environment. Their abilities and/or
contributions to society, and the nature and extent of any limitations and/or impairments from which they may suffer.”
Happenings:
The core of mitigation investigations is the ability to explain, “Why did this happen.” The information gathered is not a
justification of criminal actions, however; it is merely a explanation of how, and possibly why it happened. This type of an
investigation is conducted by a Capital Mitigation investigator (Specialist), who has been appointed to research the truth
and assist the defense team in presenting the mitigating evidence.
Conducting an investigation is a time consuming process. In order to establish a trusting relationship with the client and
their family members, it requires aggressive and continuous work for at least the first four or five months. Time is also
needed to request, gather and review factual information regarding any and all medical, educational, mental health,
military, judicial, incarceration, and vital records concerning the defendant and their family. The more time the
investigator is allowed, the better and stronger the outcome of the investigation. Once the evidence has been obtained, it
is then presented to the jury and the court in an organized, rational, and articulate fashion. The content exposed from the
investigation is intended to provoke an empathetic view point from each member of the jury.
Defense attorneys, need to keep in mind that it is never too early to appoint a mitigation investigator to conduct a
thorough investigation on their client, and their family. The more time the investigator spends on the case, the more time
saved for the attorney.