Investigations, Case Management, and Evidence Handling
This section covers investigations, case management, and evidence handling. The exam tests whether you can prioritize cases, keep investigations legally defensible, and manage evidence from scene to court.
Core rules and concepts
- Case screening uses solvability factors such as witness availability, usable video, identifiable suspect, physical evidence, and linked cases. Low-solvability cases should still be documented and reviewed.
- Chain of custody records who handled evidence, when, where, and why. Gaps do not automatically exclude evidence, but they undermine weight and can support suppression or credibility attacks.
- Brady requires disclosure of material exculpatory evidence; Giglio covers impeachment material about government witnesses.
- Case reviews should test the theory of the case, not just confirm it. Assign a reviewer who can challenge the lead investigator.
- Evidence handling includes packaging, sealing, lab submission, storage, and disposition.
Worked example
In a robbery, an officer recovers a phone, logs it in a temporary locker, and transfers it three days later without a date, time, or signature. The defense challenges the chain. Reasoning: the phone may still be admissible, but the prosecutor must explain the gap and show no tampering or substitution. The captain should require a complete chain-of-custody form, a sealed package, and an audit trail before the case is presented.
Traps that cost marks
Tunnel vision and confirming only the suspect theory; late Brady disclosure; undocumented witness recantations; and treating a chain gap as harmless without a record.