Chapter 32 TCOLE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Field-Identification

on the scene identification of a suspect by the victim of or witness to a crime, conducted, within minutes of the commission of a crime.

Rapport

- a feeling of ease and harmony in a contact or relationship between people.

Elements of a crime

- conditions that must occur for an act to be called a specific kind of crime.

Modus Operandi (MO)

- A criminal's characteristic method of operation.

Prejudice

- An opinion or leaning adverse to anything without just grounds or before obtaining sufficient knowledge.

Evidence

- Anything to be offered in court to prove the truth or falsity of a fact in issue.

Probable Cause

- Evidence that warrants a person of reasonable caution in the belief that a crime has been committed.

Circumstantial Evidence

- Not based on actual personal knowledge or observation of the facts in controversy, but of other fact's from which deductions are drawn, showing indirectly the facts sought to be proved.

Fence

- One who receives and disposes of stolen property on a regular basis.

Complainant

- Person requesting an investigation or that action is taken. Is often the victim of a crime.

32.1 Criminal Investigations

A criminal investigation is the process of legally gathering evidence of a crime that has been or is being committed.

Goals of Criminal Investigation (BPOC 32.3)

Determine if a crime has been committed. Legally obtain information and evidence to identify the person(s) responsible for committing the crime. Legally arrest the suspect(s) Recover stolen property. Present the best case possible to the DA.

Proof beyond a reasonable doubt

Level of proof required to obtain a conviction in a criminal trial.

Fact

Something known to be true.

Reasonable Suspicion-

Specific articulable facts, together with rational inferences from those facts that would reasonably warrant the detention of a person.

Reasonable Doubt -

The level of certainty a juror must have to find a defendant guilty of a crime.

corpus delicti

facts proving that a crime has been committed; body of the victim in a murder case