Private Investigators

A good team of private investigators can be a valuable resource for your criminal defence team. Private investigators are particularly useful when trying to obtain evidence and witnesses to support your version of events.

We believe that it is important to use private investigators to take statements from witnesses who may support your case. These witnesses may be known to you and may be supportive of you. However, some witnesses may be reluctant to give evidence or may be willing at later stage to alter their evidence. If a private investigator takes a statement from a witness who becomes unfavourable to your case or is unavailable to attend court, the private investigator may be called by us to give evidence concerning what the witness told the private investigator.

Private investigators can be used to:

• seize and secure CCTV footage;
• conduct a door knock where witnesses may have observed the alleged offence;
• place advertisements in newspapers requesting that witnesses to certain events come forward and provide statements;
• take photographs of the crime scene or another place or of persons of interest.

Case Study

In mid 2010 we took instructions from a client in respect to a fraud matter that was listed for a two-week defended criminal hearing in the Local Court. We had two weeks to prepare this case.
Our client was charged with larceny as a clerk or servant. She was employed as a bookkeeper and part of her defence was that the people in charge of the organisation would regularly take petty cash from the money held by the organisation and use this for their own expenses and to pay creditors.

In order to support our client’s evidence, we engaged a team of private investigators who were able to locate past and present employees and take statements from about fifteen witnesses.

This occurred within one week and allowed our lawyers to concentrate on preparing the matter for court.

For advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Armstrong Legal.