Criminal Investigations
From call to case file
Preliminary response means scene safety, aid, broadcast, canvass, identification of witnesses, and protection of fragile evidence before anything moves. Follow-up means interviews, records, lab submissions, and warrants.
Evidence and chain of custody
Know testimonial, physical, and documentary evidence, and the difference between direct and circumstantial proof. Circumstantial evidence is legally sufficient. Chain of custody must be documented from seizure to courtroom; a break does not always bar the item, but it destroys weight and invites attack.
Warrants and statements
A search warrant affidavit must establish probable cause through facts plus the officer's training and experience, and must particularly describe the place and the items. Know execution timing, knock-and-announce requirements, and the return and inventory. Custodial interrogations of serious felonies in North Carolina must be electronically recorded under G.S. 15A-211; voluntariness is judged on the totality of the circumstances. For informants, apply the Gates totality test and always corroborate independent details.
Identification procedures
North Carolina's Eyewitness Identification Reform Act (G.S. 15A-284.52) governs lineups: sequential presentation, blind or blinded administration, documented fillers, standardized instructions, and a recorded confidence statement. Show-ups are disfavored and must be justified by necessity and proximity in time.
Traps
Treating a confession as the end of the case; assuming unrecorded statements are automatically inadmissible; assuming any occupant can consent to a search of a shared space; describing a lineup as "simultaneous photo pack" without documenting instructions.
Rule of thumb
Investigate to the elements, not to the story. Before you close the file, read each element of each charge and put a fact beside it.