Witness Statements - In many cases, witnesses play the key role in deciding the outcome of a case – whether it be a civil or a criminal proceeding. Properly trained professional investigators accept that their mandate is to uncover and develop the facts in the case, not just blindly seek evidence to prove their client’s theory of how things occurred. Developing rapport with witnesses is vital to getting witnesses to experience trust, open up to the investigator, and in a relaxed state recall specific details of past events that may have grown dim over time.
Civil Case
ETS was retained by a Personal Injury attorney to investigate a case where the injured party was a nine year old boy who had received 3rd degree burns on both of his legs. This boy had been helping stock gallon bottles of sulfuric acid drain cleaner when one fell. The impact caused the bottle cap to pop off, acid to fly up and spray in several directions, and saturate the boys clothing. The attorney’s theory was that the manufacturer used sub-standard bottling procedures and believed similar incidences had probably occurred at other retail operations.
ETS investigators telephoned hardware stores throughout Chicago. In the first 30 calls, twelve proprietors acknowledged that either they or one of their employees had experienced a spill with this same dangerous product. Fortunately, each adult had had the wisdom to quickly divest themselves of the affected clothing so no personal injury resulted. One man actually stated, “Yep, I dropped trou(ser) … right in the middle of my store.” Initially, no one was willing to get involved. However, with a little convincing five agreed to meet with the ETS investigator at their respective stores. At these meetings, photos of the injured boy were shown. Each hardware store owner acknowledged having children of his own and agreed to provide a signed witness statement detailing his experience with this product and its faulty bottling. Armed with these statements, the case settled just before trial for $960,000.00.
Criminal Case
ETS was retained by a Criminal Defense attorney to investigate a case where his client was accused of Aggravated Battery, a Class 3 felony punishable by up to 3 to 5 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.00. The accused, an 18 year old boy, was identified by an ex-girlfriend and her girlfriend as the person who struck the ex a high school graduation party hosted by the parents of a mutual friend. The girl had sustained a concussion and a very visible “shiner”. Prior to this event, the accused had been on track to begin his freshman year at the University of Michigan; now he faced the very real prospect of going to prison. He acknowledged that there had been drinking at the party and a fight ensued. He claimed that his ex-girlfriend had been the heaviest drinker and had started to fight with his current girlfriend. The accused reported he was one of several guys who intervened to try to break up the fight. He did not know who threw the offending punch and was adamant that he had not punched anyone.
ETS assigned the investigation to an experienced female investigator. She visited the complaining witness and her girlfriend on separate occasions, established rapport with each, and managed to get each to agree to tell her story while being recorded. Both girls acknowledged that they had been drinking heavily and admitted that they had not actually seen who had thrown the punch but surmised it must have been the accused as he was nearby. The victim volunteered that the homeowner had been less than sympathetic to her when she told him of her injury. He screamed at her, “You’re drunk and got what you deserved. I want you to get out of here right now!” Armed with these statements, the accused was acquitted at trial. His father sent a letter to ETS expressing “infinite gratitude for the job you did to prove my son’s innocence so he can get on with his promising future in an unblemished fashion.”