Report Writing and Documentation
What this domain tests
Whether your reports can carry a case through suppression, trial, and appeal. The exam favors questions about elements, factual versus conclusory language, and the duty to preserve and disclose.
Core rules
- Write to the elements. Each charged offense needs facts supporting every element, including the mental state. If the report is missing an element, the charge likely fails.
- Observation versus inference. Write what you saw, heard, and smelled, then draw the conclusion. The subject was sweating, breathing fast, and had pinpoint pupils is evidence; the subject was high is argument.
- Structure. Chronological narrative, first person, active voice, exact quotations, times, locations, and full identification of every person named.
- Required reports. Crashes causing injury, death, or property damage above the statutory threshold in KRS 189.635 require a written report. Use supplements for later developments rather than rewriting history.
- Corrections. Follow policy: a supplemental or a documented, dated correction - never an unexplained alteration.
- Disclosure. Reports, notes, and recordings are discoverable and may contain Brady material. Include exculpatory facts; the defense will find them anyway.
Worked example
A DUI arrest report lists the offense and the blood result but omits driving behavior and SFST clues. The charge list looks complete, but nothing establishes impairment at the time of operation. The fix is not a stronger conclusion; it is a detailed narrative of the stop, the clues observed, the implied-consent advisement, and the draw time and chain of custody.
Traps
- Conclusory adjectives such as combative, nervous, or suspicious with no supporting facts.
- Citing only the statute and assuming the facts speak for themselves.
- Omitting exculpatory statements made by the subject or witnesses.
- Inconsistent times across report, citations, and body camera.