Interviewing is one of the fundamental skills required of almost every public and private sector investigator. Brandon Perron has produced an excellent guide.
Brandon Perron, CCDI, is known to many of us as a devoted criminal defense investigator, founder of the Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council and the coveted Certified Criminal Defense Investigator professional designation.
Forensic Testimonial Evidence Recovery – The FTER Method is Perron’s second investigative book. Although you don’t need to have read his first book, Uncovering Reasonable Doubt: The Component Method, to study this one, the two complement each other. They’re based on the same fundamental evidentiary issues essential to criminal defense investigations. And while interviewing is a key tool in a defense investigator’s kit, it’s also essential to other areas of investigations, from civil to workers compensation, and even law enforcement.
This book is organized into 13 chapters that offer an in-depth explanation of the FTER Method. The chapters follow a series of informative steps, beginning with fundamental concepts for the novice and moving on to application of those concepts and advanced techniques for veterans. The novice is briefly introduced to the component method as a foundational methodology. Perron then takes the investigator through understanding evidence, fact-finding and recovering evidence, and how evidence is admitted in. court. The reader is challenged to learn, adapt and apply the concepts with practical mini-tests throughout each chapter. The FTER Method then takes the evidentiary process further in defining “testimonial evidence,” which is too-often overlooked. The successful investigator knows, or will learn, the value of testimonial evidence and the interview methodologies necessary to conduct successful forensic interviews.
Perron adds context, clearly defining the history and purpose of the investigative interview and its application to the law and judicial process. He describes the investigator’s personal and professional influences and details how to maneuver through these influences when preparing for and conducting interviews. And throughout, he reminds us that as professionals, we must set aside our personal morality and judgements as we speak to subjects.
The book is subtitled “The Art and Science of the Interview.” So is the interview an art or a science?
Perron reminds us that it is both. Although psychological techniques apply in the abstract, in real life, interviews are fluid and dynamic — by nature unpredictable. And he reminds us of the difference between an interview and an interrogation, including their purpose, application, and what defines them legally. This book and the concepts of FTER aid the investigator in avoiding confrontational and accusatory interviews.
Understanding that the interview is as much art as science is the premise of this book. The interview is to obtain evidence (“recovery”) in the adversarial judicial system (forensic application(. Interviews are “testimonial.” Thus, we get Forensic Testimonial Evidence Recovery. This technique, which focuses on testimonial evidence in developing a sound defense theory, will strengthen any criminal defense investigation strategy, if applied properly. Combined, the concepts of Perron’s Component Method and FTER Method will certainly help defense teams uncover reasonable doubt.
This process begins with reviewing discovery and concludes with truth assessment. To fully apply these investigative principles the investigator must understand the anatomy of the lie – and how the same applies to why a person would tell the truth. Is it to spare a person’s feelings or avoid punishment? Perhaps to see someone punished for an unrelated event, retribution? Perron presents various scenarios of applying the FTER Method to the concepts of assessing the truth. And as part of that assessment, Perron reminds the investigator that the defendant interview is a foundation to the remainder of the investigative and testimonial evidence recovery process. This empirical information is vital to demonstrating reasonable doubt to any element of any charge presented against the defendant.
In 13 chapters and a summary, Perron takes the criminal defense investigator down a road that is not well-traveled but should be. He maps out the concepts of the FTER Method, demonstrating and imparting the art and science of the forensic interview and related testimonial evidence recovery.
To no one’s surprise, Perron bridges the art and science in a clear and concise methodology and plan of action. He packs a lot of punch in this book in the fight to assure every defendant is able to exercise their constitutional right to an adequate defense. As a stand-alone book, the FTER Method is excellent. With its predecessor, Uncovering Reasonable Doubt: The Component Method, it is a powerful testament to the skills and necessity of a criminal defense investigator and how they can and will succeed in the most important role of our adversarial judicial system.
About the author:
Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI is a Certified Legal Investigator and Certified Criminal Defense Investigator. He is a published author and has lectured extensively and authored multiple articles, peer-reviewed white papers, including Practical Methods for Legal Investigations: Concepts and Protocols in Civil and Criminal Cases, released by CRC Press in February 2011, and previously Professional Investigations: Individual Locates, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities.
Beers is a member and Forensic Investigations Advisor of the Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council. He began his investigative career in 1987 and operates Associates in Forensic Investigations LLC, with his wife, Karen, also a CCDI. They have two daughters, a granddaughter and identical twin grandsons.
© Dean A. Beers and Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC – April 2012. May be reprinted with permission and source acknowledgment. Contact beersda@Forensic-Investigators.com