Interviewing, Interrogation Limits, and Witness Statements
Interview questions test structure, voluntariness, and Louisiana's recording rule. The line between an interview and an unlawful interrogation is drawn by custody, coercion, and deception - not by the investigator's job title.
Interviewing witnesses
- Separate witnesses, start open-ended, funnel to specifics, avoid leading questions, and use cognitive techniques: reinstate context, reverse the order, change perspective.
- Record key quotes verbatim; paraphrase invites cross-examination.
- Written statements should be in the witness's own words, with date, time, place, page numbers, initialed corrections, a read-back, and a signature plus witness signature.
Interrogation of subjects
- Keep it non-custodial: unlocked door, free to leave, no physical restraint, no deprivation of water, medication, or restroom, no threats of arrest and no promises of leniency. Louisiana recognizes extortion (La. R.S. 14:66) and false imprisonment as risks of overreach.
- Miranda is not required of a private interrogator, but once the PI acts at police direction, it can be. If the subject asks for a lawyer, stop.
- Recording: Louisiana's Electronic Surveillance Act (La. R.S. 15:1303) is one-party consent - a PI who is a party to the conversation may record it. Recording a conversation between two other people without consent is prohibited. Get written consent anyway.
Worked example
An employee admits skimming cash. The interview is in an office with the door unlocked, the employee is told he may leave, no prosecution promises are made, breaks are offered, and the admission is written in his own words. Had he been told he was not leaving until he signed, the statement would be vulnerable and the company would face a false-imprisonment claim.
Traps
- Telling a witness what another witness said.
- Omitting exculpatory statements from the file.
- Interviewing a minor without a parent or guardian present.