Quaero Indicium
'To Find the Evidence'
Please distribute to others that may have an
interest
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Greetings!
We love what we do, and hearing from our clients and colleagues about how cases are progressing; particularly equivocal death investigations. Recently we heard from Alex Toia, a colleague of the National Association of Legal Investigators, President of Alexander Toia and Company, based in New Jersey:
"Thank you for your assistance in the
expert analysis and report of this case. We are sincerely grateful for
all you have done. Based on your conclusion, we are definitely going to
approach the prosecutor for a reopening of the investigation."
Some of what you will find in this month's newsletter...
FREE CSI Workshops on Saturday 10/02/2010 at Regis University in Denver. Dean will be presenting 'Woodchipper Fatality - Investigation and Identification'. This invitation came 09/28/2010 - sorry for the late notice. Lunch is also provided.
In the News10/07/2010 - Mark your calendars to hear Dean and Don Johnson, fellow CLI, as guests on the Internet radio show 'PIs Declassified'. The topic will be Equivocal Death Investigations. News story - "Prosecutor's Misconduct Can Tip the Scales" Association NewsPrivate Investigators Association of Utah conference Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado conference National Association of Legal Investigators new magazine National Council of Investigation and Security Services annual 'Hit the Hill' conference Other Items of Interest'Psychological Autopsy' is the latest article written by Dean and was featured in 'The Report', the official magazine of NCISS. This compliments the presentation Dean gave in August on death and personal injury investigation to a careers class at Everest Community College in Thornton.
Visit our website at www.Forensic-Investigators.com to review the highlights of our services and resources. Call us today to review your case and investigative needs.Links to newsletters and articles are at www.MedicoLegalPI.com. Dean, Chase and Karen 10/09/2009 ... read the story below.  | |
Important Dates
| The following are the important dates for this month and the following two months. Reminders are sent approximately one week before an extended event (i.e. conferences and vacations). Any last minute changes are also sent by email. Please mark your calendars for any dates that may effect deadlines, hearing dates, trials and depositions. Any changes from a previous notice or newsletter will have an (*) to alert you to a calendar update.
Mark your calendars for October 07th. Don Johnson, CLI from Indiana, and Dean will be guests on 'PIs Declassified', an Internet radio show hosted by Francie Koehler of Special Circumstances in California. They will be talking about Equivocal Death Investigations and the Legal Investigator.
The show airs live, with call in questions, every Thursday from 10am to 11am MST. Be sure and tune in October 07th! If you miss the live show, it is aired twice in the following week, and is available for podcast download. Each show has been very interesting!
October
* 02nd (Sat) - Guest speaker at 5th Regis CSI Workshops (Woodchipper Fatality - Investigation and Identification) - www.CSIRegis.org
07th - Guest with Don Johnson, CLI, on 'PIs Declassified' radio show 10am to 11am MST
*07th - 12th (Thu-Tue) Personal - Anniversary Vacation
[please note that last month this was incorrectly noted as 14th-18th]
November
* 16th & 17th (Tue & Wed) - Wyoming Coroners Assoc. - Forensic Photography, Death Investigation, DNA Evidence
* 25th & 26th (Thu & Fri) Thanksgiving
December
* 24th & 25th (Thu & Fri) Christmas
* 31st & 01st (Fri & Sat) New Years Eve
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| SUICIDE - ONE OF THE TOUGHEST DEATHS TO UNDERSTAND (Karen S. Beers, BSW)
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Karen S. Beers, BSW  |
Suicide can affect any family no
matter their race, ethnicity, success, wealth or religious beliefs. I have worked in the public sector in
different avenues, including as a death investigator, for over 35 years and
when talking with people I have found that suicide is one of the toughest
deaths to understand and accept.
Who wants to truly believe that
one of their own family members, or their best friend would take their
life? We begin to question so many
aspects surrounding their death. We question
what we did or did not do to help them.
We question what we could have done to prevent this from happening. We question how we could not have seen all of
the signs leading up to their death. We
question when we will accept their death and the manner in which they died. We question why and how this could ever
happen to someone we love so dearly. All
of the questions we have are legitimate questions, but we may never know all of
the answers.
About the author:
Karen has been a Legal Investigator and Administrative Assistant, since 1996.
Together they operate Forensic Investigators of Colorado, LLC. In addition to her skilled interactions
with troubled youths, she trained and worked as a Deputy Coroner at the Larimer
County Medical Examiner's Office. This
background provides essential skills and knowledge in their Personal Injury,
Negligence and Death investigations and consultations in Colorado and
nationally.
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| PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY (Dean A. Beers, CLI)
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Dean A. Beers, CLI  | Equivocal
Deaths, particularly suicide v. homicide, or suicide v. accident, are
the most common requests our agency gets for consultations. These
include families, other investigative agencies, attorneys and law firms,
and insurance companies. Our agency offers a wide range of litigation
support to both attorneys and investigators. From consultations of
injury causation and death cases ... to scene investigations and
evidence documentation ... to interviews and discovery/disclosure
analysis ... we are with you, every step of the way. Dean's recent
article, 'Psychological Autopsy' has been published in the fall issue of
'The Report', the member magazine of the National Council of
Investigation and Security Services.
The psychological autopsy is a concept that I apply to multiple components of the investigative process - from the client (plaintiff or defendant) to witnesses in civil and criminal cases, and of course to the subjects of Equivocal Death Investigations.
"The psychological autopsy is best described as looking into a person's mind and lifestyle to determine why and how he or she died."
"In the context of a criminal charge or civil complaint, we are either proving or disproving the elements of the allegations or charges. . ."
About the author:
Dean is a Certified Legal Investigator and has been certified as a Medicolegal Death Investigator and former deputy coroner. This article is excerpted from his book, 'Practical Methods for Legal Investigations Concepts and Protocols in Civil and Criminal Cases', published by CRC Press and due out in January 2011.
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Practical Methods for Legal Investigations: Concepts and Protocols in Civil and Criminal Cases
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Release Date 01/22/2010  | Dean has received the publisher's proof for final review and will be sending revisions back the week of October 07th. This is the cover of Dean's book due out January 22, 2011!
More information, including pre-orders, at:
You can also register to receive notifications of release, as well as a chance to win a free copy, at:
Writing continues to be busy this year. Dean and Karen are working on a specialized study in death investigation for a major investigative industry continuing education provider. Also, be on the lookout in November if you get the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association 'Trial Talk'. Dean's thanks and appreciation to Mac Hester, Fort Collins plaintiff's attorney, for contacting him to contribute the article.
This article looks at the relationship of the legal investigator and plaintiff's attorney, and specific investigative principles for investigating motor vehicle collision litigation. We use these concepts, also found in Dean's book, as highlights of the article - its almost like a sneak peek!
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Our Expert Forensic Affiliations
| Forensic Pathology and Autopsy Consultations  | Dean began working with Forensic Pathologist Stephen Cina MD, in late 2002 and Karen in late 2004, as death investigators and forensic autopsy assistants when Dr. Cina was the appointed Medical Examiner for Weld County and Deputy Medical Examiner for Larimer County.
Dr. Cina accepted a position as Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for Broward County, FL and later Dean returned to the private sector. There has always been maintained a mutual medical and investigative working relationship, assisting each other with consulting on death and injury causation cases.
Dr. Schueler is the Chief Toxicologist of the Broward County Medical
Examiner's Office (Florida). He puts his PhD. to use on a daily basis figuring
out complex toxicological cases and testifying to the effects of drugs
and alcohol on the body. He was the lead toxicologist on the Anna
Nicole Smith autopsy and has appeared as a toxicology expert numerous
times on television.
Contact our office to consult on medicolegal death and injury causation. Dr. Cina's services, and CV, are available at his website - Autopsy Review. Dr. Scheuler can also be contacted through Dr. Cina's private practice or our office.
We believe that medicolegal investigation is a team effort, and that is
why he has asked Dr. Schueler and our agency to be affiliated as experts in our respective fields and to offer
comprehensive services to our clients. It is an honor to work with him and Forensic Toxicologist Dr. Harold Schueler.
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Death Investigation for the Legal Investigator
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 Fractions
of an inch or an alteration in an event, or series of events, may be the only
difference between a serious bodily injury or death.Death
investigation is not limited to homicide. In fact, homicide is the most infrequent manner and cause of death. Personal injury investigation is enhanced by the understanding of death investigation.
Any
component of death investigation can be applied to personal injury
investigation - from the chain of events leading to the injury and/or death, to
the mechanisms of injury or death.
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Association and Industry Updates
| Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado
This
year the conference was held from September 23rd to the 25th at the
AmeriStar Hotel & Casino in beautiful Black Hawk, Colorado. The
conference was great, with fantastic speakers and continuing education.
Continuing education topics included legislative updates, electronic
data discovery and computer forensics legal issues, securities and
financial fraud, surveillance protocols, and a presentation by NALI
Assistant National Director Terry Cox, CLI, on the defense of Mary
Winkler - a nationally captivating case he teamed with Steve Farese,
Esq. to defend. The National Association of Legal Investigators is set to roll out the
reformatted association quarterly magazine - 'The Legal Investigator',
in which Dean is a regular contributing editor with his 'Forensic Focus'
column. This will be in both print and digital format - which I will make available via link from the November newsletter.
The National Council of Investigation and Security
Services held its annual 'Hit the Hill' conference and meeting with our
legislators in Washington DC. In addition, NCISS President, and PPIAC Senior Member, Gene Ferraro spoke at the PPIAC conference about seven potentially damaging bills to our profession. These included removal of all criminal history records - at all local, state and federal levels, after one year, ban on conducting certain criminal history checks for pre-employment purposes, ban on the use of credit reports for pre-employment purposes, and other issues. This information will be updated next month.
Private Investigators Association of UtahOn September 17th Dean joined private investigators John Underhill (CA) and Dale Seward (IN) in giving presentations at the annual conference of the PIAU in Salt Lake City. My presentation was 'The Passionate Search for the Facts', which has since become the basis for Dean's upcoming book (see below). It was a great group of eager professionals and gracious hosts, in a beautiful city. Additional continuing education topics included marketing, worker compensation investigation protocols and missing persons investigations protocols. |
A Special Note About the PPIAC Conference
| The highlight of this conference was our visit with Chase Trimble - a waiter at Farraday's in the Isle of Capri. It is not often, or often enough, that we see Chase, but we do whenever we are in Black Hawk. Chase holds a special place in our lives and hearts - he (quite literally) saved Dean's life last year on October 09th. Dean was choking and Chase, an Eagle Scout, wasted no time acting, and truly heroically - following the Boy Scout motto of 'Be Prepared'. Read the complete story, about how we met Chase, here < Chase Trimble >.If you are in Black Hawk - make reservations at Farraday's in Chase's section. Tell him we say hi and thanks. He treats everyone special - he just has that personality. |
In the News
|  Some of the latest news of interest ...
Recent Presentation: 'Woodchipper Fatality - Investigation and Identification'
This is a factual case presentation by Dean at the 5th Annual CSI Workshops at Regis University on Saturday 10/02/2010. Dean was originally an attendee and when another speaker had to cancel he was asked to step in. This case has been presented to the Colorado Coroners Association training conference and an accompanying article was peer-reviewed in the Journal of Forensic Identification, the official publication of the International Association for Identification, of which Dean has been a member since 2003.
Prosecutors' Misconduct Can Tip the Scales
The USA Today recently had an in-depth article regarding a study of recent wrongful convictions. There is no reference to the story of Timothy Masters, Fort Collins CO - he is one of the many statistics.
"Judges have warned for decades that misconduct by prosecutors threatens
the Constitution's promise of a fair trial. Congress in 1997 enacted a
law aimed at ending such abuses"
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Five Qualities of a Professional Investigator...
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Skills Appropriate
for the Assignment
Law firms and medical offices
specialize - Professional Investigators also specialize. Their casework and continuing education
should also be in your specialized areas.
Experience and
Knowledge
Professional Investigators
strive to maintain and further these. All professions have requirements of continuing education. The CLI program requires extensive compliance
with continuing education.
Responsible and
Ethical Conduct
Every component of the
investigation has evidentiary considerations. Professional Investigators hold themselves to a higher standard and
leaves no question as to the admissibility of their evidence. Information without ethics is not evidence.
Effective
Communication
Professional Investigators
maintain communication with the attorney, client, witnesses, and other key
persons in the investigation. Moreover,
reports are the product of an organized investigation and should reflect the
work product you expect.
Keyword -
'Professional'
Honesty, Integrity &
Intelligence. These define Professional
Investigators and gives you the confidence that your case is in competent and
skilled hands.
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Coming Next Month...
| Dean and Karen have two projects that should be completed in October. Look for updates on this in November!
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In Closing...
|  October begins the last quarter of the year. Much has happened in the previous nine months! In the next few months we will be completing some projects from 2010 and preparing for 2011 - looking to be a fantastic year already.
And don't forget ...
As part of the release of my book project, we are in the early stages of developing introductory webinars and full length seminars for continuing education. Continuing education is as important to the investigative profession as it is to the legal profession, but few associations or state licensing boards require it.
Contact our office if you have an interest in attending or sponsoring a seminar or speaking engagement for investigators, attorneys and paralegals.
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Dean and Karen  | Forensic Investigators of Colorado, LLC, specializes in the medicolegal consultation and investigation of cases involving traumatic injuries or death, as well as cases involving serious criminal charges.
We are Professional Reliable Investigators Defining Excellence, with PRIDE in every assignment.
Thank You. Please contact us with any questions or for additional information on these topics and our related services.
Sincerely,
Dean A. Beers, CLI (beersda@Forensic-Investigators.com)
Karen S. Beers, BSW (beersks@Forensic-Investigators.com)
Forensic Investigators of Colorado, LLC
Office: (970) 691-0813
Fax: (970) 372-4717
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