//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////101 Aimal CSI: Gatherig the Evidece By Julie Miller Dowlig This article is writte for ew cruelty ivestigators ad ca also be used as a referece i hads-o traiigs. Photos: Michelle Riley/HSUS. Photos take at the Adams Couty SPCA, Gettysburg, Pa You ve bee ivestigatig a case for several moths ad have fially obtaied a search warrat. Maybe it s a dogfightig rig, or maybe it s a hoardig situatio. Maybe a pet ower who s reportedly deprivig his aimals of proper care has repeatedly refused to allow access to his property. Whatever the circumstaces of the case, you ow have to approach the scee, warrat i had, with the steady had of a rescuer ad the calculatig eye of a ivestigator. After the aimals are secured, your focus turs to collectig evidece. How you gather it may ultimately determie who will have log-term custody of the victims; it will also affect whether the perpetrator sits behid bars or walks away to abuse agai. But where do you start? Besides takig a few photos of the aimals ad jottig dow some commets from eighbors, what else is ivolved i properly documetig a crime scee? Although ot a complete step-by-step guide, the followig primer ca help you start learig how to collect evidece the right way, furtherig your chaces of a successful prosecutio. Kow the Law What you do t kow ca rui your case. Suppose a ower will ot allow you o his property to see his aimal, but a eighbor gives you permissio to look ito the yard from her property. Ca you legally take photos? Or imagie you re respodig to a call about a eglected, barkig dog o a vacat lot ad you see objects that suggest the possibility of dogfightig. Is the property legally vacat? Ca you seize the objects as evidece? By learig the state ad local laws related to ivestigatio procedures, you ca fid out how to execute search warrats, how to hadle evidece, ad what costitutes exiget circumstace (a situatio that allows law eforcemet to eter a structure without a warrat). Most cruelty ivestigators ad aimal cotrol officers are kowledgeable about state laws ad local ordiaces, but it s importat to remai o top of chages ad amedmets to those laws. To fid out whether ad how the evidece you gather ca be preseted to a judge or jury, you also eed to request a copy of your state s rules of evidece from your prosecutor. Collaborate for aimals: AsilomarAccords.org 41
101 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// whe ecessary ca support your assertios about the aimal s prior coditio ad treatmet. Collect the Right Stuff What you eed to collect does t usually make itself apparet by glowig i the dark at the crime scee. If you re ot sure whether somethig is importat, collect it ayway, says lawyer Catherie Wolfe, former chairwoma of the Aimal Law Sectio of the State Bar of Michiga. You ll get a clearer idea of what crime was committed ad who committed it as you delve deeper ito the case. Ad what may seem isigificat iitially may prove to be relevat later. So what will you be gatherig? Evidece preseted i the courtroom ca be physical (objects that ca be touched, like bullets ad collars), testimoial (statemets provided by either a layperso or expert witess), demostrative (visual aids like photographs, maps, ad diagrams), ad documetary (such as veteriary records). Ad these types of evidece ca be either direct or idirect (circumstatial); both ca be valuable. For example, a video recordig of a ma throwig a dog out of a movig car is direct, demostrative evidece. A statemet made by a ewspaper carrier who did ot see this crime but saw the ma speed away from the dog lyig i the street is idirect, testimoial evidece. At all times, keep your eyes o the prize, says Wolfe, author of Get the Edge i Fightig Aimal Cruelty Cases. [Focus] o obtaiig evidece that ca be used at the trial to establish every elemet of the crime ad persuade the prosecutor, judge, ad jury. The victim is also key to resolvig the case, writes ASPCA foresic veteriaria Melida Merck i The Veteriaria s Role i Hadlig Aimal Aimal Abuse Cases. The aimal i ad of itself is a crime scee ad should be treated as such, otes Merck, who is also the vice presidet of veteriary foresic affairs for Georgia Legal Professioals for Aimals. Not all evidece is gathered o the scee, however. For example, a more thorough examiatio or a ecropsy coducted by a veteriaria may ucover importat evidece to bolster the case. Veteriary records subpoeaed Watch Where You Step After you idetify ad secure the crime scee, photograph ad videotape the whole area before hadlig aythig. You wat to have a good recollectio of what that property looked like before you start your search, says Chris Saford, who worked most recetly as a special ivestigator for The Humae Society of the Uited States. [Frequetly the suspect] will claim that you wet there ad damaged their property. Typically, a lead ivestigator divides a property ito sectios ad desigates certai people to search certai areas, says Saford. You have to make sure the effort is well-coordiated ad the perso writig the report is clear o where the evidece was foud ad who foud it, he says. This ca be complicated whe may people are ivolved, but it s critical that the report be accurate. A defese attorey may try to attack credibility based o eve small discrepacies, such as a writte claim that evidece was foud i the ortheast corer of a room whe a witess says it was actually discovered outside. Before you eve move it ad tag it, make sure someoe has recorded it with a photograph ad video ad that the lead ivestigator kows about it, Saford recommeds. He suggests placig a yellow three-by-five card or other marker ext to discovered evidece so it s ot overlooked durig the documetatio process. Also be careful how you hadle what you fid. Trace evidece like figerprits ad blood spatters are usually associated more with homicides tha with aimal cruelty cases, which rely heavily o photographic evidece. But trace evidece ca still be a factor. If you fid staied carpet at a dogfightig operatio, get it tested. I oe case Saford ivestigated, a suspect told him the stai o the carpet was trasmissio fluid. A lab test later showed it was dog blood. 42 Aimal Shelterig July/August 2007
101 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Too ofte, evidece collectors take a sigle photo of a aimal, such as a close-up of the woud or eve just a head shot. Remember that you re tellig a story about this aimal, says Saford, so you eed the etire picture of the aimal so you ca tell what s goig o ad what the ivestigator is tryig to show you. Besides blood, you may fid trace evidece of other bodily fluids as well as of hair, fiber, polle, dirt, pait chips, ad metallic material that could flake off from, say, the head of a hammer. The list is uedig, says Leslie Siclair, D.V.M., staff veteriaria at the Humae Society of Baltimore Couty, Md., ad coauthor of Foresic Ivestigatio of Aimal Cruelty, ad icludes ay material of small size that might iitially be difficult to detect. Wear gloves ad other protective gear so you do t add dust, dirt, hair, ad other trace materials to the scee. Also avoid the urge to tidy up a dead aimal s body before sedig it off for examiatio. To wrap deceased aimals bodies ad preserve them as evidece, Siclair recommeds usig plastic bags because paper ad sheets ca soak up fluid evidece, such as blood or saliva. (While paper bags are ofte used to protect other kids of evidece from becomig moldy i plastic, bodies are kept cool to prevet this.) Evidece ca decompose quickly o hot days, so Siclair cautios agaist trasportig or storig bodies i a truk or warm trasport truck. Pait a Picture While trace evidece ca be critical, a sigle photo or video recordig is ofte the most importat piece of evidece i a cruelty case. Follow these tips to get the best visuals: Take advatage of digital. Digital cameras let you quickly sed photos to prosecutors ad judges. (E-mailed images are great for emergecies.) Video recordigs let you capture the etire crime scee, brigig it to life for the jury ad capturig movemet ad soud that still images caot. Some argue that digital photos are too easily altered. But, says Wolfe, film ca also be altered, ad someoe must testify to the autheticity of the images regardless of what camera is used. Get the whole aimal. Too ofte, evidece collectors take a sigle photo of a aimal, such as a close-up of the woud or eve just a head shot. Remember that you re tellig a story about this aimal, says Saford, so you eed the etire picture of the aimal so you ca tell what s goig o ad what the ivestigator is tryig to show you. Capture images from all agles above, frot, side, ad below ad the zoom i o the woud or whatever you re tryig to show. Follow the same steps whe tapig ad photographig the overall crime scee: Start broad ad the move i for detail. Show idetificatio. Make sure each photo clearly shows the card with the aimal s idetificatio umber, the date, ad the case umber. Do t scrimp. You ca ever have too may pictures, says Saford. Whe you re put tig your case together, you ca select the best to itroduce as evidece. Do t limit photos to just the crime scee. If you take possessio of the aimal, you should documet the treatmet he udergoes ad his respose, shootig video or photographs at every stage, says Wolfe. 44 Aimal Shelterig July/August 2007
////////////////////////////////////////////// Capture the cruelty. After rescuig a eglected, severely matted chow, staff at oe shelter immediately groomed ad treated the dog, the took two photos: oe of the aimal ad aother of the fur piled o the floor. While the owers eded up volutarily surrederig the dog, oe expert says the timig of the photography could have ruied the shelter s case if it had eded up i court. The problem? Oce shaved, the dog o loger looked mistreated. The scee resembled more of a groomig shop tha a eglect case. Sice the aimal did ot require emergecy care, the staff should have photographed the dog before he was treated. I other cases, groomig or shavig a aimal is ecessary to ucover sigs of cruelty ad eglect, such as wouds ad starvatio, that are disguised by a thick fur coat. Get both before ad after photos i these istaces. At the same time, be sure to provide prompt treatmet for ay aimal i eed of immediate care, advises Saford. As part of your ivestigatio, whe you cofiscate aimals or serve a warrat to secure that property, if you idetify ay aimal that eeds medical care, you better take care of it right the ad there because at that momet you re basically resposible for that aimal, he says. It s ot oly for the aimal s best iterest but yours as well as a ivestigatig agecy to see to it that that aimal received the medical care he eeds ad to make sure you documet that as well. Go for variety. Graphic photos do t always work to your advatage. If the judge or jury is uable to view a photo objectively because it is exceedigly gory, these idividuals will be uable to carefully cosider the evidece it is iteded to documet, write Siclair, Merck, ad coauthor Radall Lockwood, Ph.D., i Foresic Ivestigatio of Aimal Cruelty. While the ivestigator s desire to demostrate the offesiveess of the crime is uderstood, overly offesive photographs might ot be useful or eve admissible i court. This is t to say Collaborate for aimals: AsilomarAccords.org 45
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 101 that photos ad video that depict severe ijuries or ecropsies should ot be take they should. But be sure to shoot a variety of images so the prosecutor ca choose the most appropriate ad effective oes to preset as evidece. Show the lik. Cosider two photographs: Oe shows two dead dogs; the other shows footprits i the sow leadig to a house. There is othig to coect these photos, says Wolfe. A defese attorey is goig to rip o that. But if everythig is captured i oe picture, it makes it almost bulletproof. Try to get as much evidece ito oe photo or video recordig as possible, showig how it all relates. Remember you re o cadid camera. Watch how you look, act, ad talk durig the evidece collectio process. The microphoes o video recorders ted to pick up voices from a log way off, says Saford. You do t wat ayoe makig commets that may come back to embarrass them i court. Map it out. While photographs are usually the best demostrative evidece, maps, timelies, ad eve a elarged image of the statute violated ca be effective, too. A importat aspect that s of te overlooked is diagrammig a property, says Saford. If you re takig 60 pit bulls from a dogfightig operatio, it s ice to have a diagram to show juries. For example, the diagram could depict a room where 20 dogs were foud ad illustrate the room s locatio i relatio to a bar cotaiig the dogfightig pit. The diagram makes it easier for the jury to uderstad because they re ot o the property, says Saford. A descriptive diagram ca mea all the differece i them fidig the perso guilty or ot guilty. Liste Carefully Photos may be worth a thousad words, but spoke words bolster your case, too. Wolfe offers these tips o witess statemets: Writte reports or statemets are better tha othig. But sice they reflect your iterpretatio of evets, they re subject to challeges. Opt for video recordigs with audio, which ca show the demeaor of witesses ad suspects ad help the prosecutor evaluate credibility. Do t wait too log. Try to get statemets from witesses at the scee, while emotios are high ad people are more willig to talk because they wat the perpetrator puished. Over time, some witesses may become reluctat to get ivolved, or they may forget some critical details. Get a recorded or writte assertio from the witess that her statemet is give willigly. Do t forget to iclude the date, time, ad locatio of the statemet ad the ame of the perso doig the recordig. Whe choosig a expert witess, do t base your selectio solely o the expert s credetials. Make sure the expert is articulate ad ca preset herself well. If you have sufficiet traiig ad experiece hadlig aimal cruelty cases, you yourself may qualify to be a expert witess, writes Wolfe i Get the Edge. Cosider sigig a affidavit for submissio to the judge with your warrat request, she recommeds, or to the prosecutor with your writte report. While aimal cotrol officers ofte thik they do t qualify as court experts because they re ot doctors ad have o letters after their ames, Do t Show up Empty-haded By far the most powerful tool you ll use to fight ad ivestigate aimal cruelty is your brai. Still, you eed a few other items to help you collect the evidece. Depedig o the crime ad the scee, you may eed to brig: a search warrat, which is geerally required to seize aimals or eter private property to collect physical evidece (make sure warrats cover uattached property such as trailers, sheds, ad cars); documetatio ad ivetory systems such as evidece logs; chai of custody forms, which documet the seizure, custody, ad dispositio of evidece; ad receipts of seized property, which list all items collected for evidece ad are distributed to the property ower, the court that issued the warrat, ad the ivestigator; a field maual that describes laws ad ordiaces (which ca be useful whe workig with other agecies o-site); a team of other ivestigators or experieced staff ot just to help with evidece collectio but also to verify your coduct i case the perpetrator tries for a cospiracy defese (usually o-aimal law eforcemet would be there to serve the warrat or restrai respodets); a digital camera ad extra batteries; video ad audio recorders; a tape measure; idex cards ad waterproof markers to label ad idetify evidece at the scee; a otebook ad pe; evidece bags, evelopes, ad labels; protective gear such as gloves ad masks; ad flashlight ad batteries, eve durig daylight hours. Large-scale cruelty ivestigatios with multiple aimals will require additioal equipmet, such as carriers ad body bags. See page 48 for resources that ca help you prepare for major cases. Collaborate for aimals: AsilomarAccords.org 47
101 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Wolfe says, may ca sum up their vast experiece i a setece or two for the judge: I ve bee a aimal cruelty ivestigator for 23 years, ad I ve ever see such a bad case. Protect the Evidece To be admitted ito court, your evidece must be authetic. You ll eed to testify that you collected it at the scee, that you had custody of it, ad that it is geuie, says Wolfe. This is called the chai of custody. Proper collectio ad storage of evidece is critical, says Eric Sakach, director of The HSUS s West Coast Regioal Office, ad varies depedig o the type of evidece. May shelters are t equipped to store evidece properly. You eed to protect the itegrity of the evidece by limitig who has access to those rooms. Books Assig someoe to be i charge of the evidece, ad cotrol access to it. I cases where the evidece you re protectig icludes dogs rescued from a dogfightig operatio, keep those dogs separate from the geeral aimal populatio, secure the area so the geeral public caot eter, allow oly certai staff to eter, ad keep a log of who takes care of the dogs, says Saford. Sice aimals themselves are evidece, you must carefully moitor them whe they re i your custody. Make sure you documet ay health coditios or wouds that you see o a aimal, says Saford, because it s ot ucommo for the defedat to claim that those wouds happeed while they were i the custody of the aimal shelter. If a aimal acquires a woud at the facility, documet it, takig photos of the ijury ad recordig ay treatmets admiistered. Foresic Ivestigatio of Aimal Cruelty: A Guide for Veteriarias ad Law Eforcemet Professioals, by Leslie Siclair, D.V.M., Melida Merck, D.V.M., ad Radall Lockwood, Ph.D.; Humae Society Press; humaesociety.org Get the Edge i Fightig Aimal Cruelty Cases, by Catherie L Wolfe, Esq.; Wolfe Pack Press, Ic. wolfepackpress.com Visual/Audio Presetatios Aimal Abuse: Why Cops Ca ad Need to Stop It, video produced by I the Lie of Duty; lieofduty.com Collectig, Selectig, ad Presetig Evidece, PowerPoit presetatio by Catherie L. Wolfe, Esq. Wolfe Pack Press, Ic. wolfepackpress.com Persuadig Prosecutors, Judges, ad Juries, PowerPoit presetatio by Catherie L. Wolfe, Esq. Wolfe Pack Press, Ic. wolfepackpress.com Web Resources Aimal Shelterig magazie, Resource Library (extesive archive of articles o ivestigatios, aimal fightig, hoardig, ad other related topics), AimalShelterig.org/resource_library Natioal Crimial Justice Referece Service, cjrs.org Aimal Legal & Historical Ceter, Dogfightig Detailed Discussio, aimallaw.ifo/articles/ddusdogfightig.htm Veteriary Iformatio Network, The Veteriaria s Role i Hadlig Aimal Abuse Cases, Melida D. Merck, D.V.M., http://caadiaveteriarias.et/merck-vet-foresics.htm Caadia Veteriary Medical Associatio, Collectig Physical Evidece, caadiaveteriarias.et/aimal-abuse-collectig-physical.aspx Be prepared to show how all evidece was protected whether it s a photo or a live aimal from the time it was gathered to the time it gets preseted. Brig i Outside Help Just as a medical examier is critical to a homicide ivestigatio, a veteriaria is critical to may aspects of your cruelty ivestigatio, from discoverig evidece i a examiatio or ecropsy to servig as a expert witess durig trial. But some veteriarias may be hesitat to become ivolved i a cruelty ivestigatio because of cocers about cofidetiality, liability, cost, time, persoal safety, ad reputatio. I thik cultivatig a veteriaria ahead of time who has a iterest i such cases ad is willig to overcome or igore may of these obstacles is a ivestigator s best optio, says Siclair. Siclair also recommeds that participatig veteriarias attempt to be retaied directly by the prosecutor s office ad that they egotiate a pla for paymet. This prevets the prosecutor from beig able to subpoea the veteriaria, without pay, to sit i court for hours o ed later i the case, says Siclair, ad thereby helps to preserve the relatioship the ivestigators have with the veteriaria. It also frees up the ivestigative agecy s fuds. Cases ivolvig large umbers of aimals ofte require multi-agecy assistace to idetify, documet, treat, ad house the victims. Dogfightig ivestigatios typically ivolve multiple crimes, multiple aimals, ad great persoal risk for those pursuig the cases. Evidece collectio i these situatios requires much more tha a good digital camera ad a otebook. AS To lear more, see the resources at left ad check out traiig opportuities at the Natioal Cruelty Ivestigatios School (code3associates.org/ncis.php) ad the East Coast Aimal Cotrol Academy (carrollcc.edu). 48 Aimal Shelterig July/August 2007