Medical Whistleblower’s Canary Notes

Medical Whistleblower

May 2006

In a half hour television crime show the criminal is easily caught and properly punished.

But that is not reality of law enforcement investigators. Although there is a science of in-

vestigation taught to all police officers at the Police Academy, the actual mastery of criminal

investigation skills, is not learned from any book but instead by first-hand experience. It is

also true that individual investigators have skills, abilities and proclivities in one area or an-

other, and each investigator has their own personal background of cases they have investi-

gated. There is a great deal of tedious labor of the investigation of a crime including a

crime scene search, interviews, tracing, identification, interrogation, assembling of proof,

and the presentation of testimony. The criminals are also very ingenious and are constantly

devising new patterns of crime. To this constantly changing landscape of criminal endeavor,

the investigator applies time-proven principles and techniques to the endless assortment of

situations that confront him. The field of criminal investigation is as broad and varied as is

the medical field and law enforcement officers and agents become specialized in particular

areas of crime, such as drug enforcement, governmental corruption, white collar crime, and

civil rights enforcement. Just as the end result of a doctors’ diagnostic tests and clinical

examination is a final definitive diagnosis and treatment plan, the end result of an investiga-

tion is competent evidence that can be used in court and a plan for prosecuting the criminal

offender. The Prosecuting Attorney judges whether the police investigation has been thor-

ough in all respects or whether further work remains to be done. The evidence provided to

the prosecuting attorney will only be as good as the investigators who gathered it. There is

nothing that the Prosecuting Attorney can say or do that will retrieve that which has been

overlooked, improperly obtained, or carelessly handled. Many a case has been lost at the

crime scene rather than in the courtroom. There are many cases that have never reached

prosecution simply because the investigator was unable to produce sufficient admissible

evidence. To the Medical Whistleblower, the competent investigator who is well versed in

his professional skills and who searches for every shred of evidence, applies his training

resourcefully, and handles his suspects with restraint is asset of incalculable value to the

attainment of justice.

The Art of Law Enforcement Investigation Surveillance by Law Enforcement

2

Techniques of Criminal Investigation

3

Evidence

4

Marking and Preserva-tion of Evidence

4

Inside this issue:

Volume 1 Issue 5

West Law Articles What constitutes "newly discovered evidence" within meaning of Rule 33 of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure re-lating to motion for new trial, 44 A.L.R. Fed. 13

“Homicide by heart at-tack” revisited, 49(3) J Forensic Sci 598 (2004)

Admissibility of psycho-logical deception tests, 23 A.L.R. 2d 1306

Surveillance is one of the most important tools of the investigation. Although the

professional investigators have developed, through trial and error, certain princi-

ples and procedures, quick thinking and ingenuity are prime ingredients of success-

ful surveillance. The competent shadower or prosecution investigator may obtain

evidence to supply the basis for a search warrant, identify the suspects’ activities

and contacts, and if lucky actually catch the criminals in the act. Surveillance can

be “loose” or “tight” depending on how close the shadower stays to his/her target.

The surveillance can be moving (on foot or by car) or stationary. There is also

technical surveillance such as electronic eavesdropping and wiretapping which are

often undertaken in conjunction with a stationary surveillance. The activities ob-

served during physical surveillance may later become the basis of testimony at a

trial or be used as the basis for interrogation. Each investigator maintains a

chronological log, noting descriptions of unknown persons observed and the re-

sults of follow-up inquiries at places where the subject stopped. Sometimes if there

will be a long term need for continued surveillance it is effective to establish a

business "front." Technical surveillance is conducted through the use of mechani-

cal and electronic devices. Contrary to popular belief, the presence of a tap is not

always betrayed by clicking noises or abrupt changes in volume—these are actually

the mark of a crude installation. A wiretap skillfully installed by a trained technician

is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to detect. Serious questions have been

raised as to the admissibility in court of information obtained by these methods.

Evidence taken illegally (that is, in violation of the Fourth Amendment's prohibi-

tion of unlawful searches and seizures) is inadmissible in both federal and state

courts. There can also be independent evidence discovered as the result of leads

furnished by the use of electronic eavesdropping devices. The admissibility of the

evidence so collected must be analyzed before following such investigative leads.

Both investigators and prosecutors must be aware of the present status of the law

as it applies to the investigation, so that no time is wasted in securing evidence that

will ultimately be ruled inadmissible.

Surveillance by Law Enforcement

Page 2 Medical Whist leblower ’s Canary Notes Volume 1 Issue 5

West Law Articles Intercepted communications in state criminal trials Schwartz v. Texas (1952) 344 US 199, 97 L Ed 231, 73 S Ct 232, & Lee v. State (1966, Fla App) 191 So 2d 84 Police Misconduct Litiga-tion—Plaintiff's Remedies, 15 Am. Jur. Trials 555 Digital evidence and the new criminal procedure, 105 Colum. L. Rev. 279 (2005 WL 300302) Surmounting Frye or Daubert standards for the admissibility of expert testimony, 17 Crim. Just. 6 (2003 WL 21433138) The Complete Handbook of Investigations & Privacy Rights: Demystifying the Le-gal Parameters of Criminal, Civil, and Private Investiga-tions, (Reviewed), 77(7) Wis. Law. 31 (2004 WL 3663984)

Representing The Grand Jury Target Witness, 38 Am. Jur. Trials 651 Crime Scene: True Stories from the Life of a Forensic In-vestigator, (Reviewed), 44(4) Law Soc'y J. 82 (2006 WL 1432906)

1. The collection, preservation, processing, and presentation of physical evi-

dence. The technical methods by which the investigation is advanced: fingerprint sys-

tems, photography, plaster casting, and the field of criminology or forensic science —

medical autopsy, microscopy, spectrography, serology, chemical analysis, biology, and

pathology.

2. Interviews with suspects, witnesses, and com-

plainants. Utilizing the techniques of interrogation and

interviewing strategies as well as the recording of state-

ments and admissions.

3. The use of records. Employing records and sources

of information (such as employment records, DEA

controlled substances logs, motor vehicle bureau re-

cord, telephone records and utility company records) as

a means of discovery and identification of suspects and

witnesses as well as a source of evidence and additional

leads.

4. Surveillance and plants. Using physical surveillance, the use of undercover agents

and confidential informants, and technical surveillance such as wiretapping and elec-

tronic eavesdropping.

To detect the motive behind the crime the competent investigator will use his experi-

ence, imagination ingenuity and intuition. Just like a medical doctor he can interpret

the many smaller details to identify the bigger picture . This is like using the details of

the diagnostic testing to come to a conclusion of the disease process. Deductive

Reasoning is the use of the particular known facts to interpret events and evidence

to draw conclusions about the crime and who committed it. The other type of analy-

sis is Inductive Reasoning, in which the investigator tests the validity of his conclu-

sions in relationship to a general theory of the crime. This like analyzing the signs and

symptoms with the suspected disease process to see if they are completely combatable

with the suspected diagnosis.

Techniques of Criminal Investigation

Page 3 Medical Whist leblower ’s Canary Notes Volume 1 Issue 5

West Law Articles

Searches and seizures:

reasonable expectation

of privacy in contents of

garbage or trash

receptacle, 62 A.L.R. 5th

1

Right of accused in state

courts to have expert

inspect, examine, or test

physical evidence in

possession of

prosecution—modern

cases, 27 A.L.R. 4th 1188

Searches and seizures

without warrant and

prior to arrest, 89 A.L.R.

2d 715

Investigations and

surveillance, shadowing

and trailing, as violation

of right of privacy, 13

A.L.R. 3d 1025

Fingerprints as evidence,

28 A.L.R. 2d 1115

Admissibility of

Handwriting Expert's

Testimony in Federal

Criminal Case, 183

A.L.R. Fed. 333

Withholding identity of

informer, 1 L. Ed. 2d

1998

Uses, Techniques, and

Reliability of Polygraph

Testing, 42 Am. Jur.

Trials 313

Dr. Janet Parker

P.O. Box C

Lawrence, KS 66044

We are on the Web!

MedicalWhistleblower.googlepages.com

These steps establish the chain of custody. Precau-

tions must be taken to preserve any article in-

tended to be used as evidence. The article should

be identified by initials of the person finding the

evidence and the date found. The identification

marking should be permanent and not susceptible

to being rubbed off or obliterated. Evidence, is

put in pillboxes, envelopes, test tubes, cartons, glass jars, or some other container,

and sealed. The investigator initials and dates the seal. The investigator will create a

label with the case number, date, a brief description of the contents, the location

where found, and the signature of the finder is affixed to the container. If there are

witnesses to the discovery, their names are also recorded.

Marking and Preservation of Evidence

Phone: 360-809-3058

Fax: None

E-mail: MedicalWhistleblower@gmail.com

Supporting the Emotional Health of all Whistleblowers

and their Friends, Supporters and Families.

Medical Whistleblower

A defendant's fingerprint on an

object associated

with a crime is

direct evidence

that the defendant touched the object

at some time and

is circumstantial

evidence that he

touched it at the time of the

offense.

State v. Millien,

845 So. 2d 506

(La. Ct. App. 1st

Cir. 2003).

Evidence

1. Corpus delicti evidence. This evidence serves to prove the crime itself. In a homicide it is the victim's body; in a narcotics violation it is the drug itself; in a forgery it is the forced document.

2. Associative evidence.

This evidence connects the accused with the crime or crime scene. Fingerprints, handwriting analysis, or bloodstains of a burglar.

3. Tracing evidence.

This evidence aids in locating the suspect. Examples include DEA drug logs, telephone records, and Medicaid billing state-ments.