rofessional investigators are routinely called upon by attorneys to provide criminal background investigations, usually for

Transcription

1 Cover conducting Criminal Records Investigations for Attorneys By Ronald Coleman, CFE rofessional investigators are routinely called upon by attorneys to provide criminal background investigations, usually for the purpose of criminal defense or personal injury litigation. The subjects of these investigations include adverse/parties, witnesses and the requesting attorney s client. 40 magazine July/August 2009

2 To Begin When conducting criminal background investigations for an attorney, request the following subject information: complete full name, and any othe previous names known as, complete date of birth, current address, Social Security number. Usually the attorney will provide this information. However, in some cases the attorney will provide only limited subject information. You must then conduct preliminary research to obtain needed facts. Most importantly, you must obtain the Social Security number so that the subject can be properly identified prior to the start of the investigation. The quickest and easiest way to obtain this information is by running a credit header. But always review the attorney s file first often the missing information is there. Credit Headers as an Investigative Tool A credit header is the top part of a credit report that contains an individual s name, date of birth, Social Security number and address history. Credit headers are important front line investigative tools and have become the cornerstone of the computer-age investigator s arsenal. Credit headers offer the deepest penetration of personal identifying information available. They can be accessed by an individual s Social Security number, name, address and telephone number. Credit headers are considered personal information and are protected by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information and can be utilized for a limited number of investigative purposes. Credit headers are provided by information brokers--- private companies that resell mostly public record information to law enforcement, debt collectors and professional investigators. Some of the companies most used include: Tracers: Merlin: SkipSmasher: com Adam M Schlein, in his 2006 award winning book, Find It on Line, reported that a 1998 study conducted by the Public Interest Research Group found that 70% of credit reports contained some type of error. Information provided by credit headers should be considered possible subject information and cross-referenced with other sources. Credit headers are important to background investigators for three main reasons: a source of information (personal identifiers) to cross-reference; to uncover any possible additional names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers associated with subject; to obtain subject s possible current and historical addresses. Criminal Records Misconceptions There is a general misconception that professional investigators obtain their criminal record information from law enforcement sources. State public record policies, along with federal, state and local privacy laws, determine the accessibility of law enforcement criminal records to private citizens---which include professional investigators. Most local and federal law enforcement criminal record information is nonpublic record and available to law enforcement only. However, some state criminal record repositories, and most state correctional records, are open records and accessible to the public. Any criminal record information obtained from law enforcement agencies must be cross-referenced with the actual court file to properly identify the subject and to obtain specific disposition information. Another misconception is that there is a national criminal records database accessible to professional investigators. There is no national criminal record database that contains all criminal record information! The only thing that comes close to a national criminal record database is the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Crime Information Center database, known as the NCIC. The NCIC database contains mostly arrest-related data and is non public information that can only be accessed by law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. However, even the FBI would be required to contact the courthouse to obtain specific disposition information on a criminal record. Furthermore, there is a misunderstanding of where criminal records originate and how they are obtained by investigators. A criminal record disposition is recorded when an individual is arrested and charged with a crime, then found guilty or pleads guilty in a court of law. It is this disposition that is obtained by the investigator that confirms the existence of a criminal record. If the individual is found not guilty or receives an adjournment from the court then no criminal record (conviction) exists. However, the arrest and charges remain on an individual s arrest record. Criminal record dispositions are found in local, county, state and federal courts. In the criminal record food chain, the local court criminal record information is reported to the county court. The county court criminal record information is reported to the state law enforcement repository and, in some states, to a unified court system. The state law enforcement repository s criminal record information is then reported to the top of the food chain---the FBI. s National Crime Enforcement Center. In addition, most federal district courts report their criminal record information to the public record database, PACER. County and State Unified Court Records Obtaining criminal record information can become very confusing. Some local courts consider criminal records to be public record and will perform criminal record searches. Other local courts con- July/August

3 There is no national criminal record database that contains all criminal record information! example, if you were searching the OCA database for a subject with several known last names and several first name variations, you would need to conduct multiple name searches. At $55 per name search the OCA database can quickly become very costly. Many states that operate a public record unified court system provide only partial coverage of their criminal records and some information is deemed non-public. sider these records closed and will not conduct a criminal records check without the subject s signed release. In addition, some county courts report only misdemeanors and other county courts report only felonies. The nation s 3000 plus county court criminal record information is mostly public record and accessible to the public. However, in New York State most of the state s 62-county courts will no longer conduct criminal record searches. These courts will refer the requester to the New York State Unified Court, Office of Court Administration (OCA). The OCA charges $55.00 for a state-wide criminal records check and is quickly becoming the only source for this search in the state. The OCA has made many improvements to its database in recent years and additional improvements are on the horizon. But the OCA, like all criminal record databases, has its weaknesses. It s incomplete because many of New York s town and village courts do not report their criminal record information to the OCA. It may not be current because some New York s county courts may be late in reporting to the OCA. Another major weakness, like most criminal record searching, is that only the subject s first and last name, plus date of birth, are entered into the search system. For Conducting Criminal Record Research You may be wondering how a criminal records investigation can be conducted in such confusion, but it can. It is important that you become competent in conducting computer investigations and become very familiar with public records. Conducting a professional criminal record background investigation requires a fair amount of research and your research must begin by answering the following questions: What geographic locations need to be searched? What are the court structures in these geographic locations? What criminal records are available in these courts? What are the court procedures for searching and obtaining criminal records in these courts? The first question can be answered by researching credit headers and public records together with the information provided by the attorney client. The remaining three questions can be answered by researching the local, county, state and federal courts in the states where the subject has address history. In addition, it will be necessary to review the states policy on what criminal records are considered public record. The following public record websites will be very helpful in your research of criminal records. These sources will lead you to additional sources of public record information. 42 magazine July/August 2009

4 Search Systems BRB Publications com/pubrecsites.net Black Book Online Narrow or Wide Search Approach? There are two approaches to conducting a criminal records background investigation: The narrow search and the wide search. The narrow search approach consists of searches conducted at the courts of origin which are the local courts, county courts and federal district courts. These courts hold the actual court file and have the most current and reliable information available. The weakness to the narrow search approach is the limited jurisdiction of these courts. For example, if the subject has a criminal record in Dade County, Florida, but only a search of Marion County, Florida was conducted, the criminal record would go unreported. The wide search approach consists of searches conducted at the state level. These searches include state repositories, unified court systems and criminal record databases provided by information brokers. These databases consist of state prison and sex offender data from about forty states, with some county and state court record information, some wants and warrant information and most federal district criminal courts. The advantage of the wide search approach is that you can blanket an entire state or an entire region. For example, the subject has a criminal record in Florida, a state where the subject has no reported address history. A wide search approach may be able to disclose this criminal record. It is important that any criminal record revealed in a wide search approach be verified by searching the local, county and federal district courts of origin that contain the actual court file. The weakness of the wide search approach is that state repositories, unified court systems and information broker databases are incomplete. They do not contain the most current criminal record information. So which approach should you incorporate? That depends on several factors: the case objectives, type of search requested by the attorney, and the subject s reported address history. Attorneys usually do not provide me with any specific search instructions because they are aware of my search procedure, which include searching all local, county, state and federal courts in the locations where the subject has reported address history, along with the searching of criminal record databases. They understand that by conducting a wide and narrow search approach I can work the case from both ends and provide them with the greatest chance of locating a criminal record if one exists. Be sure that your attorney-client is aware of the potential cost of the type of criminal records search you plan to conduct. Obtaining Criminal Records Criminal records can be obtained online, in person, phone, fax, and by mail. When requesting by mail or fax it is im- InsurIng PrIvate InvestIgators InvestIgators guards alarm CompanIes polygraphists other security services Comprehensive General Liability including E&O and much more! Coverage available in all 50 states Very competitive rates, with A rated carries, and limits available to $10,000, Call toll-free: Fax: or visit our web site at Costanza InsuranCe A g e n c y July/August

5 Always be on the lookout for information links. These links are the bridges that connect information, people, places and things. Many courts will require pre-payment, usually by money order or credit card, prior to conducting the records check. It is amazing how court procedures and court personnel vary from court to court and from region to region. Some courts will be very cordial and will conduct free searches by phone, while other courts will be very impersonal and have somewhat complicated search policies. portant that you type or print all required subject information on company letterhead. Don t forget to include a self-addressed stamped envelope when requesting by mail. When requesting by phone, don t forget to spell out each letter of the subject s first and last name and have the clerk repeat each letter back to you. How Do I Know the Record Belongs to My Subject? A question commonly asked is, How do you know that the criminal record that you located belongs to the subject? To verify that the record is the subject s, the investigator must match at least three of the subject s (class- A) personal identifiers or two Class A identifiers and several Class B identifiers with the court file information. Class-A personal identifiers include the subject s name, date of birth, Social Security number and addresses. Class- B personal identifiers include age, sex, race, height, weight, hair color and eye color. Most criminal record systems report a hit when there is an exact name and date of birth match. The court case file contains information including arrest and disposition data and will usually disclose many of the subject s personal identifiers. Often the court s database will reveal additional identifiers. These identifiers can be used to zero in and help verify the record s owner. A subject s personal identifiers can be obtained by reviewing the court file in person, requesting verification of known identifiers by phone, or by requesting by mail a certified certificate of disposition along with case file information. This can include 44 magazine July/August 2009

6 court depositions, letters of complaint and police reports. Review Criminal Records Reports for Information Links It is very important that you review criminal record history reports very carefully. In a recent case, credit headers, other public records and the attorney s information disclosed only New York State address history for the subject. A wide search criminal records approach included a New York Statewide Unified Court System (OCA) search and searches of information broker databases. These revealed that the subject had possible criminal record history in the states of New York and Florida. A review of the online Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) criminal records database reported an additional criminal record and confirmed that the Florida records belonged to the subject. In addition, the FDLE criminal record reported an old address in Kentucky. A review of the Kentucky Court of Justice Administrative Office of the Courts (AOCs) statewide criminal records database revealed that the subject was currently on probation in Kentucky for a drug charge. It is imperative to thoroughly examine the details of a criminal record report. Always be on the lookout for information links. These links are the bridges that connect information, people, places and things. Computer and Internet Investigations The computer has replaced the telephone as the professional investigator s most valued investigative tool. It used to take days and weeks to obtain information that can now be found in a fraction of the time. Computer software programs can retrieve, organize and link specific case information at one s command. The Internet can be used to locate people, research public records and conduct online data searching. The computer can connect to the largest libraries, government institutions, and investigative groups and associations from around the world. The Internet is an excellent source for obtaining investigative intelligence. Search engines, directories, social networking sites, and news alerts are all effective investigative tools that can be used to obtain information on a subject. A Google news alert may provide a newspaper article of a subject s arrest. A subject with a Myspace site, or a website, could be displaying photographs of underage girls or selling pirated products. A chat group could be discussing a subject s unethical behavior at work that could result in disciplinary or criminal action. These are all examples of the type of information that it is possible to obtain by conducting computer/internet investigations. Quickly and Easily Download and View Chat Logs from Any Computer Anywhere! Conclusion Conducting a professional criminal records investigation is not rocket science, but it will take some research, a good amount of public record knowledge and a great deal of patience. If searching for criminal records was simple, the attorney would not have needed you. Use the information in this article to conduct lawful investigations, obtain relevant information and clearly report your findings. And remember, when you re looking for information and you can t find it, don t give up. Keep looking---it s usually right in front of you. Ronald Coleman, CFE, (eps.inc@roadrunner. com) is a licensed investigator and Certified Fraud Examiner in Kenmore, NY. This is his first article for PI Magazine. You and your clients can do a quick investigation in to chat conversations on computers Scans the computer for Chat Logs Supports ICQ b, Yahoo, MSN 6.1, 6.2, 7.0, & 7.5, Trillian, Skype, Hello, & Miranda Chat Logs Displays all conversations in an easy-to-read HTML report For more information or to order now please visit: or call: (C) 2009 Paraben Corp. All rights reserved. July/August