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BRIAN McGUINNESS – Private Investigator
Certified Legal Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner
McGUINNESS & ASSOCIATES
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Miami, FL
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BA Psychology – University of Connecticut
Two Years Graduate School toward MSW degree
Masters in Social Work – Barry University
1973-1978 Rehabilitation Counselor – State of
Florida
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1978-1985 Criminal Defense Investigator
Miami Dade County Public Defender Office
1979 Nova University Law School (leave of
absence)
1985- Present with McGuinness & Associates
Private Investigations
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QUALITY CONTROL
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OBLIGATION TO CLIENT
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PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE
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USE of QUALIFIED DEFENSE
INVESTIGATOR & EXPERTS
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RESPONSIBLE FOR:
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GATHERING THE FACTS
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REPORTING THEM WITHOUT BIAS TO
ATTORNEY
REPRESENTING THE CLIENT
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Professional
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Business Like
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Methodical
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Thorough
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CONSIDERATIONS when retaining a qualified
Criminal defense investigator
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Should be Case Specific
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Assess strengths & weaknesses
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Issue re: are men more able to go into tough
neighborhoods to conduct investigations
Issue re: race of investigator as determining
factor for selection
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Issue re: are women better listeners?
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These are issues that should be addressed
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Is your investigator your golf buddy or the
best choice for the job at hand?
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Ask about relevant experience
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Ask about background
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Ask what other criminal defense lawyers have
used your services
Ask about approach to the case at hand
IF YOU HAVE A COMPETENT, QUALIFIED
INVESTIGATOR, HE OR SHE WILL BE QUITE
WILLING TO ANSWER
Primary
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Interviewing Skills / Techniques
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Ability to Locate Witnesses
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Research Backgrounds of witnesses, victims &
experts including Social Media
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Database Search Strategies
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Public Record Knowledge
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Secondary
Photography: Digital / 35mm
Videography
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INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES – A Critical Skill
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FINGERPRINTS
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DNA EVIDENCE
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TRACE EVIDENCE: Hair, Fiber, Tool Mark
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BLOOD SPATTER
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CROSS-CONTAMINATION
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COMPUTER FORENSICS - Email Tracing
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Attend Investigative / Educational Seminars
Read: Forensic / Investigative magazines / Bar
Journal Articles
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Legal Investigator NALI
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Forensic Magazine
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PI Magazine
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NACDL The Champion
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Criminal Defense Certification Programs
– Consider training and certification
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Take a CREATIVE approach to each case
Use CREATIVITY if you are gifted in this area OR
develop it if you are NOT
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If you are an investigator that simply awaits
instruction, you are destined to have a
mediocre career
defendants are not going to get the proper
representation that they deserve
EDUCATION
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If you truly consider yourself a
“professional” investigator then you have to
maintain a Continuing Education program
If you want to get an edge on the
“competition” then take it upon yourself to
constantly educate yourself in a crossdisciplinary method
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Working on a bombing case/ Get up to speed:
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Pick up a copy of the Anarchist’s Handbook
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Get online re: IEDs – Improvised Explosive
Devices
Contact a colleague or contact w/ ATF
experience
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READ WHAT LAWYERS ARE READING
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BAR JOURNAL ARTICLES / BOOKS
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WORKING A CAPITAL DEATH CASE – BE
FAMILIAR W/ DEATH ROW ISSUES / LAW
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Be familiar with hot button defense issues
DNA Exonerations – Barry Scheck, Esq. –
The Innocence Project
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ANTICIPATE CASE SPECIFIC ISSUES
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FOCUS ON ISSUES - One at a Time
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COERCED CONFESSION – Read everything
you can on the issue
SELF DEFENSE – Know the legal standard
Be prepared to discuss
w/ Defense Counsel
Be a “Utility” player - Excel at
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Interviewing / Obtaining Statements
Conducting backgrounds / developing
impeachment material for attorney
Cost effective witness location
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Photography / Videography
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Have the Necessary Equipment
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Being a Skilled Witness in Court
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Demonstrative Evidence Skills – Timelines etc.
Review / Purchase :
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State Rules of Criminal Procedure
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Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
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Be familiar w/ legal terminology
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Be familiar w/ basic motions in criminal
defense
cases: Brady Motions / Motions in Limine
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Role of pretext interviews
Use of atypical police and public records Police Incident Reports can be gold
Developing information from likeminded or
defendant sympathizers
The “Doorknock” approach – a vanishing art
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There is so much to KNOW in the investigative
field
To be a well rounded investigator means a well
READ investigator
Spend the money, it will pay off
Purchase books, subscribe to magazines,
professional journals
Reference Books – use as needed
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Research online subjects such as blood spatter
on search engines “Google”
Check results against online Booksellers ex.
Amazon.com
Review – Online: Table of Contents, Index
Critiques
Check Library for book – review before buy
Contact professionals in the field for
recommendations
RECOMMENDED~READING
The Investigative Reporters Handbook, Fourth
Edition A Guide to Documents, Databases and
Techniques
By Brant Houston, Len Bruzzese and Steve Weinberg
Check www.ire.org
RECOMMENDED READING:
Advanced Forensic Criminal Defense Investigations
Editor: Grace Castle
Co-Author: Paul J. Ciolino
Lawyers and Judges Publishing
William F. Blake
Publisher: Thomas
26 Chapters including:
*Homicide & Questionable
Death
*Basic to Advanced Skip
Tracing
*The Art of the Background
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William F. Blake – Thomas Publishers
Capital Defense Investigation
Polygraph Examination
Defending the Criminally Accused
Internet Profiling
Computer Forensics
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Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific
and Investigative Techniques
Second Edition by Stuart H. James and John
Nordby
CRC Press
Chapter Honorable Mention:
Techniques of DNA Analysis
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Death Investigator’s Handbook
By Louis N. Eliopulos
8 1/2 x 11, softcover, photos, illus., 976 pp.
Important move will attenuate War on Drugs while
wresting undue power from prosecutors' hands
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Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday
that the Department of Justice (DOJ) aimed to
overhaul federal minimum sentencing laws,
particularly to help those facing low-level drug
charges from facing prosecution and lengthy
minimum jail-time.
During an American Bar Association speech
Monday, Holder plans to say: “Today, a vicious
cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration
traps too many Americans and weakens too many
communities… However, many aspects of our
criminal justice system may actually exacerbate
this problem, rather than alleviate it.”
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The New York Times noted on Holder’s prepared
remarks that he plans to detail the extent of the overincarcertion rate and its roots in the War on Drugs.
The A.G. will comment that while the American
population has grown by about a third since 1980, its
prison rate has increased nearly 800 percent.
At the federal level, more than 219,000 inmates are
currently behind bars — nearly half for drug-related
crimes — and the prisons are operating at nearly 40
percent above their official capacity.
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Police mini-helicopter spy drones
FAA required Certificates of Authorization
(COA) for
drones that fly above 400 ft.
GPS-cellular phones – we all have had cases
where it’s an
issue
GPS Tracking devices on vehicles : Police /
Private
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The Spy Drone that looks as if it has come direct
from a Star Wars movie can:
Travel at 57mph
Reach an altitude of 10,500 feet.
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PR New Wire - Source - Reuters
Miami Dade police get all the best gadgets, just
watch an episode of CSI Miami and you will
see what I mean. Well it now looks as if this
U.S. police force is about to take possession of
these Spy Drones.
These Honeywell Micro Air Vehicles has
forward and downward looking cameras and
can set 100 different way points.
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Cellular telephone geo-location by police
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Digital records can hurt and help the defense
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Bar code readers in parking lots
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Manual car tag tabulation at airports
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SunPass / EasyPass records: time and location of
exits
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Wearing a wire –from actual metal wire to
fabric weaves (wireless) that are 87% lighter
and 26 times stronger than cooper wire
Video Surveillance – security cameras, license
plate scanners – Boston Marathon Bombers
captured on video
TLO New license plate tracking search
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Everybody knows that wire tapping is an
extremely useful tool for police agencies
around the world. Getting a witness or an
undercover agent to wear a wire on a meeting
with a crime boss is something else.
It's very risky for the cop and very easy for the
bad guys to find a wire stuck to the body with
duct tape. But a NASA sponsored technology is
about to change the famous Hollywood quote
to "wearing a wireless."
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The new technology is called “AmberStrand” and it's
a spool metal wiring.
AmerStrand is a trademark of Syscom Technology
Inc. sponsored by NASA, it's made of conductive
fibers forming a web-like pattern, which are more
lightweight and flexible
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Metal wire connected to battery operated
recording device
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Gait recognition technology is a biometric method
-- that is, a unique biological or behavioral
identification characteristic, such as a fingerprint
or a face
2002 Georgia Tech
2009 U.S. Federal Defense Studies
2009 India
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So far, Facial Recognition, despite its flaws as
well, does possess one distinct Advantage over
the existing Biometric Technologies-That is, it
can scan subjects at a relatively far distance.
But if Gait Recognition proves to be a viable
means of Verifying and/or Identifying
individuals, it could even surpass Facial
Recognition and Iris Recognition, or they could
all possibly be used as a pretty extensive
Multimodal Security Solution.
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2013 Review of the literature
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Some degree of accuracy from 500 ft.
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Multiple corporate/scientific entities
worldwide working on perfecting
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Facial Recognition Software – price reductions,
accessibility, use by LE
Gait Recognition Software – use at airports for
known suspects/terrorists
Websites such as www.whosarat.com
are potential sources of info
Keep abreast of new websites as sources of
impeachment material
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Budgets for investigation
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Time Frame required
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Juggling other cases – duty to defendant
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Attorney and Defendant Contacts
Determine your role and extent of involvement
in the case early on
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Private cases: Budget proposals
Indigent cases: State vs. Federal
In Either Criminal Case: Manage your
investigative objectives responsibly
Often difficult to anticipate how an
investigation may open up
Don’t waste resources (budget) going down the
wrong path
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Meeting w/ defense attorney
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Meeting w/ defendant
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Review Discovery
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Discuss evidence against client
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Discuss initial theory of defense - subject to
change
Request copies of ALL Discovery
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Common Errors in Management of case by defense
investigator
Under budgeted: establish a budget that accounts
for unforeseen work and expenses
Time Commitment to case can be compromised by
other cases that come in or existing cases that
require more work
Inattention to investigation priorities: for ex. waste
time/budget
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State Court Appointed Cases
CJA Federal Appointed Cases
Investigator as a Team Member of Defense
should voice his/her objections
Assist Defense Attorney in Motion language
requesting additional budget
Contact other Criminal Defense Attorneys to
see if they have motions that you can utilize or
modify
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Court: Eric Rudolph Defense Cost $4M
September 14,2005 | BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -Legal fees to defend Eric Rudolph in a deadly
Alabama abortion clinic blast and the Atlanta
Olympics bombing cost taxpayers more than $4
million before he agreed to plead guilty in a deal
that spared his life, court documents show.
One of Rudolph's attorneys said Tuesday the bill
would have been far higher had the case gone to
trial." That would have probably tripled the cost,"
said Bill Bowen, part of a team of at least nine
lawyers who defended Rudolph.
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Rudolph is serving four life terms after pleading
guilty in the Birmingham clinic bombing, which
killed a police officer in 1998, and the Olympics
bombing, in which a woman died in 1996.
He also pleaded guilty in two other bombings that
occurred in Atlanta in 1997.
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said the government had
not computed the total cost of prosecuting Rudolph,
who was the subject of an intense manhunt
following the Birmingham bombing in 1998 until
May 2003, when he was captured in Murphy, N.C.
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The cost of defending Rudolph was disclosed in
an order filed last week by U.S. District Judge
Lynwood Smith. Attorneys in the Alabama case
were paid $2.02 million for representing
Rudolph, who declared himself broke and
received court-appointed legal representation
following his arrest in 2003.
Experts, investigators and others who assisted
in the defense were paid another $2.02 million,
according to Smith's order.
1.
United States of America
vs.
Eric Rudolph
(Eastern District of Alabama)
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Massive case with 10 defense investigators
10 at times up to 12 defense attorneys
5 Mitigation investigators
Team Defense meetings in Birmingham
Case Vault Security Online Repository for a
half million Discovery Documents,
investigative reports, photos etc.
Encrypted emails
2. STATE OF FLORIDA
VS.
SEAN TAYLOR
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State of Florida v. Sean
Taylor
Star Safety: Washington
Redskins Charged with
Aggravated Assault with a
Firearm
An Only in Miami type of criminal prosecution
Assistant State Attorney in charge of prosecuting the
NFL star safety had a side job as a DJ on South Beach.
He was known as DJ Esq.
When Prosecutors
Mess Up!
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State of Florida v. Sean
Taylor
Star Safety: Washington
Redskins Charged with
Aggravated Assault with a
Firearm
Creativity came into play as a young associate just
decided to google the prosecutor and came up
with information that embarrassed the MiamiDade County State Attorneys Office and
jeopardized their case.
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TWO LESSONS LEARNED ON THIS
CASE:
1. Always do a background check or at
least media and social media check on
the Prosecutor in your case
2. Always do multiple criminal background
checks on State witnesses especially right
before trial
Red
Washington Post
Thursday, April 13, 2006
skins Safety's Attorneys Allege Misconduct; Trial Is
Delayed Again
MIAMI, April 12 -- The lead prosecutor in the felony
assault case against Washington Redskins safety
Sean Taylor resigned from the case on Wednesday,
hours after the defense alleged he was using it to
promote his side career as a Miami Beach
disc jockey.
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Miami Herald News Story:
“On a wild day in which Taylor's trial, scheduled
to start Monday, was delayed for the sixth time
Assistant state attorney Michael Grieco, 30, shut
down a personal web site detailing his DJ activities
and relinquished his role as lead prosecutor even
while his superiors accused Taylor's lawyers of a
smear campaign”.
3.
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
vs.
Troyniko McNeil
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DNA exoneration
Murrio Ducille, well respected Defense Attorney
Dr. Martin Tracey FIU retained
Professor to Bahamas DNA expert who had a
flawed DNA match
Rare instance of Defense Investigator trumping
defense attorney re: discussion on case direction
and use of an expert
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Earlier this week, I had an interesting initiation
into the Bahamian criminal justice system. The
Bahamas gained their independence in 1973 and
previously had been a British Crown Colony.
Their political and judicial system is still heavily
influenced by Britain.
I have traveled there multiple times on criminal
cases and even have met with top police officials
on one case involving money laundering; But, I
had never attended a court proceeding before.
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I sat in all day to hear testimony in a murder case
trial wherein I am the defense investigator. I was
in Supreme Court Number 2, Nassau, Bahamas.
The building appears to have been constructed in
the late 1800’s.
The jurors, all twelve and alternates are seated on
the left side and the prosecuting attorney and his
assistants and defense counsel and his assistants
sit at dark wood bench style desks in the center.
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The Court Clerk and his assistant sit at a desk
facing out toward the attorneys and audience.
All the lawyers wear the traditional British
white wigs and black robes with white
cravats. The Judge wears a more ornate
crimson robe with black vertical sash
complete with white wig and is addressed as
"Your Lordship" and presides from a raised
platform oak desk fifteen to twenty foot long.
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The defendant sits in the "dock" the traditional box
in the center of the courtroom behind defense
counsel. The various trial assistants, all wearing
similar wigs and attire, sit at desks facing the
judge.
I noticed that a prosecution witness, the DNA
expert who has testified numerous times in the
Bahamas turned toward the bench and bowed as
he exited the courtroom.
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It was interesting to hear the prosecutor
continually refer to defense counsel as "My learned
friend". It was all so, shall I say “civilized”!
Aside from these trappings and unfamiliar
surroundings, there was a common theme, a
drama: a young man's future at stake and
another's future lost, the 37 year old victim who
was an internationally known handbag designer.
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It is a front page murder case and has captured the
public’s interest in Nassau
The prosecution case is weak and hinges on
suspect DNA evidence. There is no other evidence
to implicate our client in the murder. There were
mistakes made in the analysis
The defendant is also alleged to have stabbed the
victim (his father's business partner) multiple times
while on crutches from a basketball injury.
Our defendant is a soft-spoken, polite 23 year
father of two who says he has no knowledge of the
crime. His father, the victim’s business partner
was a suspect for a period of time and his DNA
blood sample was excluded. Yet, nine months later
his son’s sample was taken and was matched to
trace DNA evidence at the scene.
He had often visited the victim’s residence since
his father had lived there for a time. If you know
anything about DNA evidence, that should raise a
flag in your mind.
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The case is likely to go to the jury today and I
am very hopeful that our client will be
exonerated. This is a case where I really believe
that our client is innocent!
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“The main point of my testimony
was that the defendant lived or often
visited the crime scene, so it was not
at all surprising to see his DNA
mixed in with swabs of blood stains
which matched the victim”.
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“His father was excluded, because father and
son share 50% of their DNA and over 15 genes
that means that the father had only a (1/2) to
the 15th power = 1/32,768 chance of matching
his son's profile”.
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Britain’s Leicester University
Geneticist Alec Jeffreys
1975 began his research
Soon recognized the potential for the use of
Repetitive regions of the genome to individual
biological fluids
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First High Profile Forensic case covered in
Joseph Wambaugh’s book The Blooding
Rape and murder in a small British village of
two high school girls
Worker at a mental hospital confessed to one
murder
Police sent blood samples of this suspect and
victim’s blood to Dr. Jeffrey’s for genetic
analysis
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Suspect was exonerated as rapist/murderer
who left semen at both scenes since his DNA
profile was different from the semen sample
takenfrom the victims
Revolutionary: police had the DNA fingerprint
of the real rapist/murderer but NOT a name
Problem was there was no DNA database
Samples taken voluntarily from all men in
village
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Several thousand samples were obtained
The assailant (Colin Pitchfork) asked a friend to
provide a sample for him
Problem was the friend was overheard in a pub
discussing the switch
Pitchfork’s sample was later taken and was a
perfect match
He later pled guilty to both murders and got a
life sentence
FORENSIC NEWS
08/14/2013
Forensic Experts Create Cat DNA Database
University of Leicester forensic scientists
have created the UK’s first cat DNA
database — which has already helped
convict a killer
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Experts in the University’s Department of Genetics
have compiled a database of DNA from 152 cats
around the country.
The database was used to demonstrate the likelihood
that cat hairs found on the dismembered torso of
Hampshire man David Guy belonged to “Tinker”, a
cat owned by main suspect David Hilder.
This evidence was used as part of the prosecution case
leading to the successful conviction of Hilder for
manslaughter.
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“This is the first time cat DNA has been used
in a criminal trial in the UK. We now hope to
publish the database so it can be used in future
crime investigations," says Dr. Jon Wetton, who
led the project.
“This could be a real boon for forensic science,
as the 10 million cats in the UK are unwittingly
tagging the clothes and furnishings in more
than a quarter of households.”
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In July 2012, the torso of David Guy was found
on a Southsea beach wrapped in a curtain on
which eight cat hairs were found.
Hampshire Constabulary sent the hairs to
California for analysis, where the scientists
examined the cat’s mitochondrial DNA — a
type of DNA contained in small structures
within cells, and passed down the maternal
line.
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The mitochondrial results showed not only a
match with the suspect’s cat, “Tinker”, but also
that the same DNA type had not been seen
among 493 randomly sampled US cats.
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Patrick McGuinness, my twin brother and no we
are not identical!
Jacksonville Florida Public Defender for 32 years,
private practice for 4 years
Has tried more murder cases than 99% of
attorneys in Florida
Star of Oscar Winning Documentary
THANKS FOR
LISTENING !