Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Effective Police Report Writing, Tip #10

Anticipate defense challenges and preempt them in your report.

Anything you don't put in a report provides an opportunity for the defense to argue an alternative reality. In DUI cases, common defenses include: rising alcohol, a different driver (the passenger was driving), distractions during the Field Sobriety Testing phase, mouth alcohol, and more. A thorough report will preempt many of these typical challenges. For example, if the individual's alcohol level was rising, the person should be more impaired at the police station than at the arrest scene. If you believe "rising alcohol" may be a defense, then document how the individual is sobering up. If you anticipate an "It wasn't me driving" defense, document why you are certain that no one else was driving. 

A comprehensive, accurate, and thoroughly descriptive report (CAT) that anticipates defenses will prevent the defense from filling-in missing details in your report with a different version of the event. 

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