| We all know about Private Investigators. The classic | | | | One thing that differentiates C.D.I.s from regular P.I.s is |
| stereotype evokes images of guys in seedy clothes, | | | | that if they obtain enough evidence to prove their |
| toting cigarettes, coffee cups, donuts, and six-shooters. | | | | client's innocence early on, they can use this |
| They're the guys who run the shadows of law | | | | information to help their clients make out of court |
| enforcement, who seek out criminals in shady | | | | settlements before an actual court case is filed, thus |
| alleyways and sneaky backwater pubs. In reality, of | | | | avoiding any scandals and the tarnished reputations |
| course, P.I.s aren't anything like that, but the classic | | | | that usually accompany someone's getting accused of |
| Humphrey Bogart image has gained them an infamy | | | | a criminal act. This is very important to their clients, as |
| that cannot be erased from the consciousness of | | | | a person's reputation tends to suffer from such |
| society. Detectives are the "bad boys" of law | | | | accusations even in those cases where innocence is |
| enforcement, and will do whatever it takes to bring | | | | proved. Finding a way to determine a client's innocence |
| criminals to justice. | | | | before the case even reaches the courts is extremely |
| Despite the stereotype, there actually exists a breed | | | | relevant for C.D.I.s in particular, because oftentimes the |
| of private investigator that would greatly surprise | | | | clients they take are what society at large would |
| Bogart fans out there. They are known as Criminal | | | | consider to be hard cases - accusations involving rape, |
| Defense Investigators, and specialize, as their name | | | | murder, homicide, drug dealing, arson, and grand theft. |
| implies, in helping defend the accused parties in judicial | | | | Needless to say, even standing accused of any of the |
| courts. | | | | above crimes would be detrimental to a person's |
| C.D.I.s are usually employed by criminal defense | | | | standing in society, no matter the outcome of the court |
| lawyers and/or their clients, the accused parties, to | | | | case. |
| gain evidence for court cases to prove the innocence | | | | This may set the various imaginations of paranoid |
| of the accused party standing trial. They work | | | | people out there on fire; images of Evil P.I.s being hired |
| together against the prosecution to defend their cases. | | | | to help mafia bosses clear their cases and such... This |
| The lawyers, of course, take care of the legal defense | | | | is far from the truth, however. The core credo of |
| procedures in the actual court hearing, but the C.D.I.s | | | | C.D.I.s is to uncover the truth behind a criminal case, |
| are the ones who do the back-end legwork, who | | | | and to present their findings, wether positive or |
| gather information and evidence to prove the | | | | negative, to the defense lawyers who they're working |
| innocence of their clients. | | | | with. In cases where the proof actually shows guilt, the |
| They operate in the same manner as normal P.I.s, | | | | defense lawyers can at the very least use the |
| employing methods such as surveillance, information | | | | evidence to plead guilty and appeal for a lighter |
| gathering, getting testimonies, speaking with law | | | | sentence. More often than not though, for the cases |
| enforcement officers at the scene of the crime, | | | | that show innocence, the defense party can use the |
| interviewing witnesses (and bringing in those same | | | | gathered material to help strengthen their case |
| witnesses to testify in court), doing background checks | | | | substantially and clear the name of their innocent |
| on all sources of information, and obtaining physical | | | | clients. |
| objects to act as hard evidence. The only difference is | | | | C.D.I.s are not there to help criminals avoid justice and |
| that they're working for the defending parties in court, | | | | their deserved punishment. They are there to uncover |
| those who stand accused of crime, not for the | | | | the truth, and to defend those who stand wrongfully |
| prosecution as is usually the case with the archetypical | | | | accused of crime, to help innocent people avoid |
| P.I.s. To further bolster their client's claims of innocence, | | | | condemnation and subsequent legal reprisals. They are |
| they even work alongside regular law enforcement | | | | there to gather information primarily in the defense of |
| officers who are involved in their various cases to help | | | | those innocents, that they may clear their names |
| uncover the truth of what actually occurred at the | | | | without a shadow of a doubt from the stain that |
| scene of the crime. The same applies to other law | | | | inevitably follows getting a criminal record. Innocent until |
| enforcement related groups such as the fire | | | | proven guilty is more than just a classic line we've all |
| department, search and rescue teams, paramedics, | | | | heard from movies and media. It is the very backbone |
| and forensics officers. | | | | of society's judicial system. |