dialog 2015 spring - Defense Investigators Association of California

DIAlog
Spring 2015
The Official Newsletter of the
Defense Investigators Association
Defense Investigators Association
P.O. Box 1184
Santa Maria, CA 93456
(415) 578-0466
www.cdia.org
UPCOMING:
2015 Spring Seminar
“Through the
Magnifying Glass”
April 30 - May 1, 2015
Santa Rosa, CA
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
My Fellow Investigators,
I hope you are all doing well and that
you are enjoying a healthy, productive and prosperous 2015.
Defense Investigators
Training Academy
(DITA)
Introduction to Defense
Investigations (DITA I)
June 8-12, 2015
Lompoc, CA
2014 was a very busy year for DIA.
In May, we had our 2-day Spring
Seminar, “Finding Shades of Gray,”
in San Diego’s beautiful Mission Bay.
In June, we completed the third cycle
of our academic program, the Defense Investigator Training Academy
(DITA), with an intense 5-day course
on “Investigative Sciences and Technology” (DITA IV) in Lompoc. In
June, DIA presented a half-day training session on Crime Scene Reconstruction in San Rafael. Finally, we
converged upon California’s state
capitol in October for our 2-day Fall
Seminar, “The Defense is in the Details,” in Old Town Sacramento.
2015 promises to be busy and exciting as well. Our Spring Seminar,
“Through the Magnifying Glass,” will
be held at the Hilton - Sonoma Wine
Country in Santa Rosa. A new round
of DITA courses will also begin in
June, with “Introduction to Defense
Investigations” (DITA I) being presented at Allan Hancock College’s
Lompoc Campus. Our Fall Seminar
will be held in our Southern Region.
2015 also marks DIA’s 50th year since
its establishment in 1966 by a group of
public defender investigators from various public defender offices in California.
Today, DIA is still going strong with
nearly 300 members from all over California.
DIA continues to be the premier provider of training and continuing education
for criminal defense investigators in
California. DIA is also the nexus between you and other criminal defense
investigators throughout California.
Further, we are a professional learning
community; we benefit greatly through
networking, sharing information and
ideas with one another. All of this, combined with the hard work each of us do
in our respective jobs, greatly benefits
the defense of our clients.
As President, I invite and encourage
you to attend the various training programs offered by DIA. Take advantage
of opportunities to network and communicate at our events as well as the
members-only area of our website. I
would also like to invite and encourage
you to become actively involved in the
Association.
I hope to see you all soon at our future
events.
Bob Childs, DIA President
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Page 2 of 6
2015 Spring Seminar : “Through the Magnifying Glass”
The 2015 Spring Seminar
will be held April 30 &
May 1, 2015, at the Hilton
- Sonoma Wine Country,
in Santa Rosa,
California. The Seminar
Chair is DIA Vice
President John Maness.
“Through the Magnifying
Glass” will include
presentations on Death
Investigation, Ethics for
the Defense Investigator,
Digital Forensic
Investigation, Discovery
by Investigator, Sexual
Assault Investigation, an
Open Forum for all
investigators, a
Supervisors Roundtable,
and other topics.
Further information can be
found at cdia.org/training.
DITA I - Introduction to Defense Investigations
The next cycle of Defense
Investigators Training
Academy (DITA) courses
will commence with
Introduction to Defense
Investigations (DITA I).
The class will be held
June 8-12, 2015 at Allan
Hancock College Lompoc Campus. The
host hotel will be the
Holiday Inn Express Lompoc. The Instructors
of Record will be Leticia
Macias and Ron Weber.
DITA I covers the
evolution of criminal
defense, the role of the
investigator, case
organization, time
management, note taking,
report writing, interviewing
skills and techniques, and
testifying skills. A
minimum of thirty hours of
class time, homework
assignments, and a final
exam are required
components of the class.
The Certificate Program
consists of four classes.
Upon satisfactory
completion of the four
classes, the student earns
the Certificate in Criminal
Defense Investigations.
Those students
successfully completing all
four classes will be
awarded the Certificate in
Criminal Defense
Investigation.
Each class is presented in
an intensive workshop
setting, with students
spending four to five days
in a classroom setting,
and includes thirty hours
of required class
participation. The classes
may not be audited, and
students must attend all
classes in order to get
credit for the individual
course, and to earn credit
toward the Certificate.
DITA was established by
vote of the Board of
Directors of the Defense
Investigators Association
in 1998. DITA
provides certificated
training in criminal
defense investigations.
DITA classes address the
skills and knowledge
essential to provide
competent investigation
on behalf of the defense in
criminal cases. The DITA
committee members
studied a wide variety of
issues and topics
to identify classes that
they considered to be
necessary training for
criminal defense
investigators.
Page 3 of 6
DIAlog
“Finding Shades of Gray” – 2014 Spring Seminar
The Spring 2014 Seminar
was held at the Hilton
Resort at Mission Bay in
San Diego on May 29-30,
2014.
The program, Finding
Shades of Gray, was a
series of presentations
designed to benefit
defense investigators of all
levels of experience,
focusing on the potential
mitigating factors that
should be explored when
investigating criminal
cases. The Seminar was
chaired by Bob Childs,
then DIA Vice President.
The keynote address was
given by Angela Bartosik,
Chief Deputy Alternate
Public Defender of Santa
Diego County, who
introduced the seminar
and emphasized the
importance of the work of
defense investigators.
Michael Semanchik, Staff
Attorney for the California
Innocence Project made
a presentation detailing
cases where factually
innocent individuals were
wrongfully convicted, and
where the defense
investigation fell below
standard. Herman
Atkins, one of California
Innocence Project’s
exonerees, told his own
story of being convicted of
a crime he did not commit
and exonerated after being
imprisoned for 12 years.
Criminal defense attorney
Kathleen Cannon and
Santa Diego County
Alternate Public Defender
Chief Investigator Sandra
Huff presented a session
on approaches to
mitigation, the hallmark of
this seminar. Matt
Braner, San Diego County
Primary Public Defender
Supervising Attorney,
presented “Here, Hold
This Gun,” an in depth
session on defense
evidence ethics regarding
physical evidence. Sloan
Ostbye, Supervising
Attorney with the San
Diego County Primary
Public Defender,
presented a session on
advanced interviewing and
report writing. Day one
concluded with a
discussion on investigator
safety, presented by Tony
Perez, Los Angeles
County Public Defender
Investigator, as well as a
Supervisor’s Roundtable
session, led by Chief
Investigators Ron Weber
and Josie Ceniceros of
Tulare and Marin
Counties, respectively.
Day two of the seminar
continued with another
session on investigator
safety issues, but this time
with a focus on laws and
policies affecting the
defense investigator’s right
to self-defense. This
interactive discussion was
led by Public Defender
Investigators Jerry Maya
and Carlos Carrera of
Alameda and Sonoma
Counties, respectively.
San Diego County Primary
Public Defender
Investigators Jose Avila
and Ricardo Garces then
presented a session about
conducting investigation in
Mexico, a favorite topic of
many in attendance.
Special Agent Amy
Roderick of the Drug
Enforcement
Administration (DEA) then
made an informative,
multimedia presentation
about recent drug trends.
Deputy Public Defender
Michael Hanley of Santa
Barbara County then
made a presentation about
hearsay, discussing the
law of hearsay and the
types of evidence that may
be used despite the
statutory preclusion. The
seminar concluded with an
“open forum” session,
moderated by Bob Childs,
Seminar Chairman and
Santa Barbara County
Public Defender
Investigator. This
interactive session gave
investigators in attendance
the opportunity to submit
topics and questions in
advance, and have them
fielded live by their peers.
Attendees received 12.5
hours of professional
continuing education credit
and a certificate at the
conclusion of the Seminar.
The Spring 2014 Seminar
was attended by 100
attendees from all over
California, including 35
from the Northern Region,
29 from San Diego
County, and 35 from the
remainder of the Southern
Region.
Seminar materials are
available at
cdia.org/spring-2014.
Caption describing picture or
graphic.
Hilton Resort at Mission Bay
San Diego, CA
DIAlog
Page 4 of 6
“The Devil is in the Details – 2014 Fall Seminar
Investigators from all over
California converged upon
our state capitol for the
Fall 2014 Seminar, which
was held at the Embassy
Suites Sacramento
Riverfront Promenade on
October 10 and 11, 2014.
The title of the Seminar
was The Defense is in
the Details, a reminder
that defense theories and
strategies can often be
gleaned from minutiae,
and that there is often
much more to a case than
initially meets the eye.
The Seminar was chaired
by Vice President John
Maness.
The Seminar got
underway with the
keynote address delivered
by Sacramento County
Public Defender Paulino
Duran. San Diego
County Public Defender
Investigator Dana Gary
then made a presentation
on the role of the medical
examiner. Robert Alaimo
of the San Mateo County
Private Defender Program
then taught a session on
Frank Daley speaks to a full house of investigators.
cell tower technology. An
insightful class on ganginfluenced clients then
followed, presented by
Joshua Mason, a gang
consultant and former
member of the Northern
Structure Prison Gang at
Pelican Bay’s Security
Housing Unit (SHU).
Investigator and Forensic
Document Examiner
Manny Gonzales then
taught a session about
questioned documents.
Meanwhile, another
Supervisor’s Roundtable
was led by Ron Weber
and John Maness, Chief
Investigators of Tulare
and San Mateo Counties,
respectively.
Rose, Inc. based in
Cupertino, then gave a
technical talk on computer
forensics. Duncan
MacVicar of the California
Veterans Legal Task
Force then taught a class
about alternative
sentencing for veterans.
A session regarding illegal
knife identification then
followed, taught by Ken
Cantamout, Investigator
from the San Mateo
County Private Defender
Program. The Seminar
concluded with a class
about polygraph
examinations, presented
by Investigator and
Polygraph Examiner
Jimmy Valencia.
The second day of the Fall
Seminar began with
Frank Daley of the San
Mateo County Private
Defender Investigator,
who presented a session
entitled “Nothing is Ever
as it Seems and People
Sometimes Make
Mistakes.” Benjamin
Rose, Managing Partner
of Townsend, Carden &
The 73 investigators who
attended the Fall Seminar
received 12.5 hours of
professional continuing
education credit and a
certificate at the
conclusion of the Seminar.
Seminar materials are
available at
cdia.org/fall2014.
Supervisors Roundtable session (at a rectangular table).
Page 5 of 6
DIAlog
“Investigative Sciences and Technology” (DITA IV)
Defense Investigators Training Academy (DITA)
DITA IV was presented
June 9-13, 2014 at Allan
Hancock College’s
Lompoc Campus. The
course is entitled
Investigative Sciences
and Technology (DITA
IV) and is the fourth of four
classes of DIA’s academic
program, Defense
Investigators Training
Academy (DITA). DITA
IV consists of over thirty
hours of classroom
instruction over an intense
five-day period. Fifteen
students earned their DITA
Certificate and designation
of Certified Criminal
Defense Investigator
(CCDI) with the completion
of this class. The class
covered computers as an
investigative tool, firearms,
forensics including but not
limited to blood spatter
evidence, medical
examination of
sexual abuse victims,
ballistics, gunshot residue,
toxicology, and bite mark
evidence.
Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt is
one of DITA’s co-founders
(along with Jean Dittmyer
and Scott Dittmyer), and
has been the program’s
Instructor of Record since
its inception in 1999. With
the culmination of this third
cycle of DITA courses,
Lawanda has more than
earned the title of DITA
Chairperson Emeritus.
Lawanda is the Chief
Investigator of the Santa
Barbara County Office of
the Public Defender and
has served on the DIA
Board of Directors since
1995.
Students paying close
attention during a lecture on
toxicology.
DITA IV Reflections…
By Camille Savedra, Public Defender Investigator, Ventura County
DITA IV began with a
daunting book entitled
Scientific Evidence in Civil
and Criminal Cases in the
few weeks preceding
class. Somehow, I
managed to digest the
material and saddled up
for our upcoming days at
Allan Hancock College in
Lompoc.
Toxicology with Jennifer
Batt, a Criminalist from the
California Department of
Justice. Ms. Batt
eloquently outlined the
study of Toxicology and
Pharmakinetics, i.e., what
the body does to a drug
and how it is detected
using sensitive scientific
lab equipment.
On Monday, after
introductions by our
Instructor of Record,
Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, it
was show time! We began
with an in-depth look into
We then took a critical
look into SART
investigations with Susan
Malgrum, R.N. Ms.
Malgrum did a fantastic
job pointing out where
discrepancies can be
found on examination
forms. Next, we heard an
enthusiastic lecture on the
role of the Medical
Examiner (Coroner) by
Susan Mangum, a former
Medical Examiner for San
Diego County. I never
thought death could be so
interesting, biologically
speaking. After that
lecture, I can guarantee
that whoever warned “a
dead man tells no tales”
was not a Medical
Examiner.
“Whoever warned ‘a
dead man tells no tales’
was not a Medical
Examiner.”
DIAlog
Page 6 of 6
DITA IV Reflections… (continued)
Students learn about blood
spatter patterns in a hands-on
lab session.
A student photographs
and documents a mock
crime scene.
On the next day, we were
introduced to the forensic
science of fingerprinting.
Our teacher, Kevin
Moses, did not disappoint
with his lecture and
hands-on lab session,
showing us how latent
prints are collected,
documented and
examined. We also
learned the fundamentals
of document analysis from
Patricia Fisher. Ms.
Fisher did a great job
explaining the
particularities of document
examination, and she
provided critical instruction
on how to properly obtain
a writing sample from a
client.
Then, we were introduced
to our course closer:
Elissa Mayo, a
Criminalist/Assistant
Bureau Chief from the
California Department of
Justice. Ms. Mayo
discussed the science of
blood spatter, DNA, and
crime scene analysis to
our class using several
interactive group activities.
Teamwork was definitely
key to this portion of the
course. For instance,
each group created a
crime scene for another
group to document,
analyze and collect
evidence from, just as a
real crime scene
technician would do! In
an even more thrilling
group exercise, we were
tasked with creating our
own blood spatter
evidence to document,
measure, and compare
using different surfaces,
distances and tools.
DITA IV wrapped up on
Friday with the final exam
and a lovely ceremony for
the graduating class: Juan
Solis, Jim Van Fleet,
Cristina Veloz, Chas
Wiggins, Richard Chavez,
Paige Devereaux, Norene
Fambrini, Kyndra Maya,
Aron Hershkowitz, Joseph
Kral, Edith Villapudua,
Yadira Plaza, Greg Risby,
Sean Shopes and James
Tinetti. Congratulations to
all!
I don’t think the
experience would have
been the same without the
charming
accommodations provided
by O’Cairns Inn & Suites
in Lompoc. I was also
grateful to the DIA for
hosting a taco dinner at
Floriano’s Mexican
Restaurant, and a savory
Santa Maria-style
barbeque picnic cooked
by Giovanni “Gio”
Giordani and Bob Ikola,
Chief Trial Deputies of the
Santa Barbara County
Public Defender and longtime supporters of DITA.
A special thanks to
Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt for
putting this course
together. It was truly
remarkable!
“Accident Scene Reconstruction”
Half-Day Training in San Rafael, CA
On July 18, 2014, the DIA
presented a special
training session on
accident scene
reconstruction.
This half-day session was
held at the Embassy
Suites in San Rafael and
was free to all DIA
members. Daniel
Schumaker, President of
Contrast Forensics,
provided the training. The
event was attended by 20
investigators from across
California. The training
was chaired by Josie
Ceniceros, DIA Northern
Board Member and Chief
Investigator of the Marin
County Office of the
Public Defender.
More information about
Daniel Schumaker and
Contrast Forensics can be
found at
contrastforensics.com.