Witness, Unidentim Statements In Criminal Investigations, And Victims

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Witness, suspects, and victim statements, can as easily make a case as it can break one. Statements can help lead investigators to a conviction or to freedom. They can lead to absolutely nowhere, or create a break in the case that solves the crime. This is why is critical for an investigator to know what to look for when taking statements from witnesses, victims and suspects. The areas of expertise an investigator must know about include; understanding psychological damage and the toll witnessing a crime can take on a person, what the investigator must do to get reliable and credible evidence from victims and witnesses, and how to translate this into a court setting, with evidence that will stand up in court. One could argue that the most important for an investigator is being able to relay the statements into cold hard facts that can be used to recreate the crime scene and solve the offense.
It is imperative for an investigator to gather statements as soon as the crime has been committed as the fresher the memories of the crime the less likely it is for a person to recreate the trauma. It is believed that …show more content…

If the victim does not remember or answers wrong it can be assumed the witness is not telling the truth or is not credible enough to be used as a witness. Credible witnesses can help lead to key insights as mentioned above, and can also help sketch out a crime scene. For example, if multiple witnesses throughout the neighborhood witnessed a crime, an investigator can sketch out where those said witnesses were standing and what they saw. This can help sketch a 3-D crime scene and timeline in which investigators can match up what was seen where and when. It can also provide a description of the suspects and the weapons and their makes/models

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