Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
A Colorado Limited Liability Company and Licensed Private Investigators
www.DeathCaseReview.com ~ (970) 480-7793
Quaero Indicium -'To Find the Evidence'
Please distribute to others that may have an interest
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Dear (Contact First Name),
February marks the month for love and civil rights. With Valentines Day just around the corner, many investigators find themselves in the field on infidelity cases - one of the busiest times of year for domestic investigators. Holidays, including Valentines Day, are emotional and we also see a spike in case inquiries. Sadly, the suicide rate increases with despondency elevated around this date. February is also the month of recognizing the history of civil rights in our country. Since late January we have been in and around Memphis TN and northeast Mississippi - the very heart of civil rights. The week of Valentines is the mid winter conference for the National Association of Legal Investigators in Memphis. A perfect venue and time. We have seen the birthplace and adult home of Elvis Presley, the birth of blues and will be seeing the Civil Rights Museum and where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated - but his dreams were not. On our way to Memphis we also visited the national memorial and museum of the Oklahoma City bombing. We know both investigators and a juror from the related cases. After the NALI conference we will make our way to the spring conference for the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators in Dallas. There we will visit the site of the assassination of John F. Kennedy (Dean has been to the site and museum). IN THIS ISSUE -- PI Education changes hands
-- Bill of Rights survey results -- Healthcare coverage alternative -- DNA in criminal cases -- State and National Associations news -- Much More!!
AFI-LLC - Our agency is called upon for many reasons - from investigations to consultations, and from finding the right investigator to the right expert. We have recently added to our case examples found at http://www.DeathCaseReview.com/sample-cases.html.
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| Bits and Pieces | |
RIGHT TO AN INVESTIGATOR IN CRIMINAL DEFENSE
This comes to us courtesy of Kris Cantil (Kane Consulting, UT)
"At the heart of an effective defense is an adequate investigation. Without sufficient investigation, a defense attorney, no matter how intelligent or persuasive in court, renders deficient performance and jeopardizes his client's defense."
Richter v. Hickman,578 F.3d 944, 946 (9th Cir. 2009)
The importance and value - the right - to an investigator in a criminal defense case, particularly felonies, cannot be overlooked and is a primary component of the litigation team. It is important to consult with an investigator immediately upon acceptance of the case by the attorney. Moreover, it is important for the attorney to directly retain the investigator to assure work-product privilege, attorney-client confidentiality and a cohesive legal strategy.
HEALTHCARE COVERAGE ALTERNATIVES
We have not researched this completely and have no affiliation or benefit from sharing this. In the information reviewed, it is exactly what Dean's solution is to the actual healthcare issues facing our country, which is not the pending enactment of the controversial healthcare law.
-- Low fees to doctors through large participant pools;
-- Low premium monthly insurance for major medical (but not routine coverage);
-- Medical savings plans for self-pay treatments.
Before Dean worked full-time at the medical examiner's office, this is the healthcare concept we used. However, when he was full-time it was required for everyone to be insured through the self-funded and self-insured county program. For only two of us our premiums were just over $800 per month - and we still had co-pays and deductibles to meet. More was spent in three years of being insured like this than the combined previous 18 years under a plan similar to the Medical Repricing plan (www.medicalrepricing.com). The savings in monthly premiums will more than make up for the deductible, which we never met, and that annualized to some significant savings. Combine that with a medical savings account and there are some tax savings.
Just an idea worth sharing.
BILL OF RIGHTS SURVEY
Last month was concluded a Bill of Rights survey. With each question was provided the Amendment or an accurate synopsis, and a choice of two responses and an option to comment. It was required that every question be answered; only the comment was optional.
-- The _____ Amendment is a sacred, unalienable birthright
-- The _____ Amendment is open to challenge, negotiation, change or repeal
About Dean and Karen:
Dean and Karen are full-time RV Investigators (Team Beers) with their office based in Colorado.
Dean is a subject matter expert in the areas of death investigation and personal injury causation. He is the only Board Certified Legal Investigator (CLI) in northern Colorado, a faculty consultant and Certified Criminal Defense Investigator (CCDI) and is also certified in Medicolegal Death Investigations, having trained and worked as a Deputy Coroner at two medical examiner's offices. He continues to speak extensively on investigative techniques and principles and has authored multiple peer-reviewed white papers, and self-published "Professional Investigations: Individual Locates, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities" and recently published "Practical Methods for Legal Investigations" (CRC Press) He currently consults nationwide as an expert in criminal defense homicide and civil equivocal death investigations.
Karen has been a Legal Investigator and research specialist, since 1996. She has a Bachelor's in Social Work from Colorado State University (Magna Cum Laude) and in 2011 earned the designation Certified Criminal Defense Investigator (CCDI) and is also certified in Medicolegal Death Investigations. Together they operate Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC. In addition to her skilled interactions with troubled youths, she also trained and worked as a Deputy Coroner at a 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. In addition, she has written for prominent professional investigation journals and was instrumental in the revisions and contributions to both agency books, as well as the co-development of "Death Investigations for Private Investigators" for PIEducation.com
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Our Expert Forensic Affiliations
|  We believe that medicolegal investigation and consultation is a team effort. Stephen Cina MD, Harold Schueler PhD, and our agency are affiliated as experts in our respective fields offering our clients comprehensive medicolegal services.
Dr. Cina is the Chief Medical Examiner of a large metropolitan area in the upper mid-west, and Dr. Schueler is the forensic toxicologist at a south Florida medical examiner's office. Contact our office to consult on medicolegal death and injury causation. The CVs of both Dr. Cina and Dr. Schueler are available by contacting us.
Dr. Cina is also the co-author of the non-fiction historical look at "When Doctors Kill" available at http://whendoctorskill.PrivateInvestigations.org
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Agency News and Updates
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AFI-LCC Article in Forensic Magazine
A shortened version of Dean's popular comprehensive peer-reviewed white paper for his Certified Legal Investigator designation, 'Reviewing and Comprehending Autopsy Reports', will be published in the February / March issue of Forensic Magazine. This issue will also be concurrently distributed at the annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting.
AFI-LLC has several articles available to associations for publication. Contact AFI-LLC for a list or to request consideration for an article submission by AFI-LLC to your association newsletter, journal or magazine.
BEERS WITH OUR FOUNDING FATHERS
Dean's book has been released as an eBook at www.BeersWithOurFoundingFathers.com inspired by love of Family, Freedoms and our Country. Today our Country is faced with internal and external complications. It is not about political party, race, gender, sexual orientation, or other personal identification and social agenda used to prejudice others, class warfare.
LETTERS FROM YESTERYEAR
One of the best ways to learn about history is from people who actually lived and documented what they experienced. The book Letters From Yesteryear is a collection of letters written between the years 1879 and 1900.
Karen has just finished her first eBook. Originally started in 1990, she revamped it and has published it on Smashwords. The book is a collection of actual letters she transcribed from the late 1800's.
COMPLIMENTS FROM A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE
Long-time friend, colleague and founder of the Certified Criminal Defense Investigator program, Brandon Perron, recently published these kind words on a PI forum - "Dean Beers, CCDI, CLI, maintains a reputation within the investigation and forensic science profession that is beyond reproach. I have had the pleasure of working with him and found his knowledge to be both academic and pragmatic in nature. His ability to study an issue and find a solution to the most complex questions is more than impressive. Dean Beers is a valuable resource and I highly recommend him as an investigator, expert, and instructor."
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Associations and News of Our Profession
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PPIAC ( www.PPIAC.org)
Monthly meetings are the first Wednesday of each month, usually in the Denver metro area. Visit the PPIAC website for details. Also, the PPIAC Quarterly (Fall 2012) newsletter is available at
http://ppiac.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/PPIAC-Quarterly-Fall-2012.pdf
National Association of Legal Investigators (www.NALI.com )
Celebrate Valentine's Day in Memphis with NALI. This will be Feb 14-16, 2013 - Memphis, Tennessee at The Peabody (and their famous ducks). The topics and speakers - including about The Memphis Three - will be exceptional. http://nali.com/conference-mid-winter-memphis2.php
The newest issue of NALI's official journal - The Legal Investigator - is now available online at http://www.bluetoad.com/publication?m=14458&l=1.
National Council of Investigation and Security Services (www.NCISS.org)
NCISS keeps a list of various association events at http://www.nciss.org/news-and-events/latest-events.php. This includes information about the 2013 Hit the Hill and SAAB (State Association Advisory Board) leadership training April 15-17.
Members of NCISS receive a copy of the twice-yearly published 'The Report' has just been posted online at http://www.nciss.org/documents/The_Report_Spring_2013.Web.pdf. The bi-monthly eReport newsletter will also be emailed in mid January and posted online. Feel free to share these.
NCISS wants to share this great savings with you - super discounts at Office Depot for supplies at http://nciss.ctcshares.com (the discounts could be enough to pay our annual dues).
NCISS also sends out important legislative alerts. If you are interested in these alerts, consider joining NCISS. These alerts are immediately posted on our agency website at
At the very least, drop us an email and we will make sure you get the alerts as they happen.
World Association of Detectives (www.WAD.net)
The value of networking extends beyond your local clients, and should include statewide, nationally and internationally. This should include your state association, NALI, NCISS and of course WAD for international camaraderie. You can contact us for membership information for any of these associations. As the WAD Governor of the Americas (USA, Canada, Central America, Caribbean and Argentina), Dean is interested in answering your WAD membership questions. You can also contact any of the WAD Ambassadors.
The WAD magazine, Beyond Global, is availabile online at http://www.wad.net/page/newsletter.aspx .
Other Association News
Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI - www.TALI.org) is having their Spring Conference in Dallas, TX - March 8th and 9th.
If your association has news, please send it to us for inclusion.
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In the News
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News happens so fast, please visit our agency blog for daily and weekly posts on news of interest - www.MedicolegalPI.com or our business Facebook page at www.facebook.com/4N6Associates
Pursuit Magazine (PursuitMag.com) and PI Education (PIEducation.com)
Last month we mentioned some exciting news for Pursuit Magazine and PI Education. We have contributed several articles to Pursuit Magazine, an online full-service magazine for investigators, and have also developed a Death Investigation for Private Investigators online continuing education for PI Education (www.MedicolegalDeathInvestigations.com). Hal Humphreys (FIND Investigations, Nashville TN) has purchased both ventures and has made some exciting changes. Visit both websites to see for yourself.
On a side note, during our travels we find ourselves being ambassadors of our profession. Hal happened to be in Amarillo TX when we were passing through, and we had time to meet over a nice dinner - thanks Hal! We also want to give our thanks to our friend, Scott Harrell (Compass Point Investigations, Pennsacola FL) for all the work he did with these two ventures and our profession.
Touring Tupelo MS
Also, while in Tupelo MS seeing the birthplace of the King of Rock and Roll, and before that his home at Graceland in Memphis TN, we met up with our friend and fellow CLI - Terry Cox (Lonewolf Investigations, Booneville MS). Terry is the current National Director of NALI and working hard on finalizing details of the upcoming conference. Terry and his wife took us on a personal tour of Tupelo after an enjoyable dinner - thanks Terry and Teresa!
New York Examines Over 800 Rape Cases for Possible Evidence Mishandling
The New York City medical examiner's office is undertaking an unusual review of more than 800 rape cases in which critical DNA evidence may have been mishandled or overlooked by a lab technician, resulting in incorrect reports being given to criminal investigators.
(AFI-LLC note -- incorrect reports are not only given to criminal investigators, but also prosecutors, defense attorneys, defense investigators, judges and juries.)
www.forensicmag.com%2fnews%2fnew-york-examines-over-800-rape-cases-possible-evidence-mishandling
Why are DNA Databases Available to Prosecutors but not Defense Attorneys?
Operated and maintained by the FBI, the federal Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database contains data regarding 10 million offenders and 1.3 million arrestees, and is growing at an accelerating rate. At present, however, prosecutors have an iron grip on CODIS and only nine states (CO, GA, IL, MD, MS, NY, NC, OH and TX) have laws granting defendants access to DNA databases.
http://pifeed.com/post/why-are-dna-databases-available-to-prosecutors-but-not-defense-attorneys/
Colorado Supreme Court - No Proof of Crime Needed
The Colorado Supreme Court said Monday that prosecutors no longer need to prove a crime occurred if they can show a confession is trustworthy. The rule requiring proof of a crime using evidence other than a confession had been in effect for more than a century. The justices said the new rule will apply to future cases.
http://gazette.com/articles/denver-149716-high-rules.html
Do you have a book to be reviewed or special announcement? Let us know!
If you want to send a complimentary copy, we will gladly review it for you and also provide a customized press release and distribution.
Scott Harrell's complete review for Pursuit Magazine
Burt Hodge's complete review for Florida Association of Licensed InvestigatorsBob Wall's complete review for Professional Private Investigators Association of CO Don Johnson's complete review for PI Magazine Gene Ferraro's complete review for the ASIS Security Management Online Jennifer Brown, CLI, JD, is the Editor for the quarterly newsletter of the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado, writes "Awesome book, Dean. Should be required reading for investigators. It's helped me clean up some of my procedures." |
| The Quint-Essential Qualities of a Professional Investigator... | 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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In Closing...What a Beautiful Country!
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As we make our first travels of 2013 through the mid-South, we continue to be amazed at the sights, scenes, history and people. We have met many wonderful people from Oklahoma to Mississippi and will be wrapping up this first tour at the TALI conference in Dallas. We certainly miss our kids and grandkids - technology keeps us in touch, but that personal touch is always so wonderful.
Take the time every day to look around, slow your pace and share the goodwill that we are all so lucky to have in this great country.
Best wishes - Dean and Karen
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Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
 | | Dean and Karen Beers |
Specializes in the Expert Consultations and Legal Investigations of Personal Injuries, Negligence and Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate litigation.
We provide investigations and consultations of any death or injury causation case from any location with the conveniences of modern technology and assistance of our local professional friends and colleagues.
Call us today, we're glad to help!
We are the PRIDE of Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC - Professional Reliable Investigators Defining Excellence 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, CCDI (beersda@DeathCaseReview.com)
Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI (beersks@DeathCaseReview.com)
Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
Office: (970) 480-7793 (Dean x1 and Karen x2) ~ Fax: (970) 480-7794 |
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Newsletter and Press Release Archives from July 2010
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Download our Agency Information and Case Request Packetclick here
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Featured Articles
Dean and Karen have several articles published, some are available for reprint.
For details email:
Associates@Forensic-Investigators.com
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Find Us at:
 | | Find us and 'Like' us! |
Dean is at:
Karen is at:
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Professional Associations
Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC)
National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI)
National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS)
World Association of Detectives (WAD) Criminal Defense Investigation Council (CDITC) National Defender Investigator Association (NDIA) Florida Association of Licensed Investigators (FALI) Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI) California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI) National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) International Association for Identification (IAI) and (RMDIAI) |
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