1.

Defined the following:

A.

B. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEFINED

It refers to the process of discovering, collecting, preparing, identifying, and
presenting evidence to determine what happened and who is/are responsible. (Bennet &
Hess, 2004)
It is collection of information and evidence for identifying, apprehending, and
convicting suspected offenders.
It is the reconstruction of a past event. (Ralph F. Turner)
Investigation is “a patient, step-by-step inquiry or observation, a careful
examination, a recording of evidence or a legal inquiry”.
Based on etymology, the term investigation came from the Latin word Investigare
which means “to track or look into traces”. Fundamentally, it may have been derived
from vestigium, another Latin word which means footprint. (MS Encarta Reference
Library, 2005)
C. Criminal investigators are fact-finders since they focus their efforts on facts that
are related to criminal activities, thus, they are charged with the duty of carrying on
the objectives of criminal investigation. They could be detectives from the
government or private sector.
2. What is the phases of Criminal Investigation?
PHASES OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Investigation concerning a criminal case generally progress in three stages, usually
described as:
1. Preliminary Investigation – also known as initial investigation; focused in
identifying the perpetrator/s
2. Follow-up Investigation – also known as continuing or in-depth investigation;
focused on tracing, locating and eventually arresting suspects.
3. Concluding Investigation – also called final investigation; focused on evaluation
and presentation of evidence to prove the criminal guilt of the accused.

3. What are the ways to identify criminals?

1. CONFESSION- is the direct acknowledgment of truth of the guilty fact as charge or of
some essential pat of the commission of the criminal act itself. To be admissible, the
confession of the accused must be voluntary. Confession by duress, coercion, extreme
psychological restraint is not admissible in the court of justice.

Rules to be Observed in Admission/Confession

1.) Confession or admission must be taken preferably by writing and must be under
oath.
2.) Must be written in the language understood by the accused, if not it must be
translated to him clearly.
3.) Must be freely and voluntarily given by the accused.
4.) The accused must be appraised of his constitutional rights.

Voluntaries of Confession may be shown by the following:

1. The statement by urging or request was a spontaneous or self-induced utterance of
the accused.
2. The statement by the accused was obtained without coercion and free from any force
or intimidation.
3. The statement was obtained during an official investigation after the accused was
informed of the nature of the offense, of the fact that he did not make a statement, and
of the fact that the evidence can be used against him at a trial.
 Admission – the statement of facts by the accused in a criminal case which do not
directly involve the acknowledgment of guilt in the commission of crimes for which he is
charged.
2. EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
The value of identification by a witness depends on:
1. The ability of the eyewitness to observe and remember the relative
distinctiveness of the accused appearance.
2. The prevailing conditions of visibility and observations.
3. The lapse of time between the criminal event and the identification.
Methods of identification by witness.
1. Verbal description- The value of description must depend on the capacity of the
witness to describe the criminal.
2. Photographic files (Rogue’s Gallery)- The witness may be taken to the
headquarters to examine the photograph on the file. The modus operandi file may also be
shown upon knowledge of the technique of the commission of the crime. The witness
should also be instructed to call the investigator’s attention to any strong similarity in the
photograph of a single feature, as the nose or mouth.
3. General Photograph- The investigator should show the witness the variety of
facial types which do not necessarily represent the criminal. The pictures only represent
different features of the face. The image of various features such s the degree of baldness,
length or shape of the nose, the shape of the ear, etc.
4. Artist’s Assistance – Identification may be made by the employment of an artist
to depict a composite of features describe by the eyewitness. The witness is shown chart
which contains representations of various types of human features as nose, eyes, ears, etc.
and is requested to select the individual features present in the unknown criminal. From
this selection, the artist draws a composite of the fact of which may be a close
approximation to that of the criminals.
5. Police line-up - The investigator can increase reliability or identification by eyewitness
through the medium of intelligently conducted “line-up”. The police lineup is the
elimination of the power of the suggestion as a factor in identification. This move is
profitable in using it as a means of selecting a suspect from a group of innocent people.
3. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
- is identification established indirectly by providing other facts or circumstances by
which, either alone or in connection with other facts, the identity of the perpetrator can be
inferred.
 Sufficiency of Circumstantial evidence to sustain a conviction:
a. When there are more than one circumstances;
b. When the facts from which the inferences derived are proven;
c. When the combination of all the circumstances is such as to produce a conviction
beyond reasonable doubt.
4. ASSOCIATIVE EVIDENCE – are the physical evidence which may identify the criminal by
means of clues, personal properties, or the characteristics patterns of procedure deduced
from the arrangement of objects at the crime scene. The offender may leave some clues at
the scene such as weapons, tools, garments, fingerprints, foot impressions etc. Crimes of
violence may leave evidence of physical struggle.

5. What are the skills that an investigator must possess?

6. QUALITIES OF A GOOD INVESTIGATOR

1. The ability to persevere or stick to task in spite of the monotony and the
many obstacles that surrounds it.
2. He must have certain abilities and intelligence which would enable him to
acquire information easily and readily and to use this information truthfully.
3. He must be honest. He must e incorruptible and must have personal
integrity. The investigator will be subjected to al kinds of temptations; physical,
emotional and material. Temptation to gain will be continuously present and he
must be able to recognize and resist it.
4. He must have an understanding of the people and the environment in which
he lives. He must know the weakness and strength of the people, so that he uses
them to his advantage, particularly during interrogation.
5. He must have keen power of observation and accurate description.
Observation implies a clear metal picture of what is seen. It requires seeing of
detail, a study of detail, and a recognition that the whole picture is composed of
many details.
According to the National Institute of Justice based in Florida USA, the a
competent investigator must have the following desired characteristics;
-Positively motivated
-Intuitive
-Psychological and emotionally stable
-Judicious or discreet
-Street-smart
-Team player
-Persistent
-Intelligent
-Dedicated to his profession
-A person with integrity
-Reliable

9. Primarily the job of an investigator is to discover whether or not an offense has

been committed under the law. In the performance of his duties, he must seek to
establish the SIX CARDINAL POINTS OF INVESTIGATION namely:
1. What specific offense has been committed?
2. How the offense was committed?
3. Who committed the offense?
4. Where the offense was committed?
5. When the offense was committed?
6. Why the offense was committed?
10. 3 I’s in Criminal Investigation

1. INFORMATION –
-Information is the key tool in criminal investigation. As the first tool of
investigation, can be the launching pad that will chart the course or destiny of the
investigator in his quest for the solution of the crime. For reliable information may lead to
the discovery of the missing piece that can complete the jigsaw puzzle of a crime.
-Information is the general term referring to the knowledge acquired by
investigators from various sources which could be in the form of persons, places, or things.
-Information in its simplest form is usually used as INVESTIGATIVE LEAD to guide
investigators in gathering sufficient evidence to identify, locate and arrest suspects then
prove the guilt of the people accused of crimes. Through information, the true facts can be
established.
This is the knowledge which an investigator acquires from records and persons. The
ability to secure information is a major asset of an investigator. This ability is attained and
developed in the following ways:
a. By using tact in the performance of his duty
b. By becoming acquainted with any kind of people
c. By getting and being friendly to other peace officer of the area
d. By making a habit of jotting down and keeping permanent records of potential
and actual offenders and informers, as to their aliases, place of residence, hangouts,
habits and police records, etc.
e. By learning not to overlook chance memoranda or haphazard notations.
2. INTERVIEW and INTERROGATION

A. INTERVIEW- Is the questioning of a person believed to posses’ knowledge that has

official interest to the investigator. It is a simple inquiry/conversation-type elicitation of
information from a willing victim(s), witness(es) relevant to a certain
crime/incident/event under investigation.
Basic Assumptions: Nobody has to talk to law enforcers. No law compels a person to talk
to the police if he does not want to. Therefore, people will have to be persuaded always
within legal and ethical limits, to talk to law enforcers. This makes interview an art.
Things to consider in the person to be interviewed
a. His ability to observe;
b. His ability to remember;
c. His ability to narrate;
d. his mental weakness because of stupidity or infancy or other related factors;
e. his moral weakness because of drunkenness, drug addiction, his being a
pathological liar or similar factors;
f. Emotional weakness springing from such sources as family problems, hatred,
shock, revenge and even love or sympathy.
B. INTERROGATION
-It is the skillful questioning of a hostile person suspected of having committed an
offense or of a person who is reluctant to make full disclosure of information in his
possession which is pertinent to the investigation.
CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERROGATION
Interrogation is an art employed in questioning suspects for the purpose of getting
specific information which could be in the form of admission or confession about the
commission of a felony or offense.
Interrogation is a formal questioning whereby aggressive and accusatory questions
can be asked to the subject. It refers to the questioning of suspects, culprits, offenders, or
perpetrators of a crime. In practice, it sometimes used in questioning hostile witnesses.

3. INSTRUMENTATION
It is the scientific examination of real evidence, application of instrument and
methods of the physical science in detecting crimes. It is the application of physics,
microscopy, photography, chemistry, polygraphy, electronics, micro-photography, biology,
pathology, in crime detection.
It is the sum total of all applications of all science in investigation otherwise known
as Criminalistics, although instrumentation in the Philippines involves the use of polygraph
or lie detector in the investigation of various crimes.
The idea of enhancing the SOCO is to assist police investigators in terms of scientific
approach in investigating criminal cases, especially heinous crimes.
 Criminalistics as a scientific discipline, now the best legal arsenal of investigators to
cushion the impact brought about by Article 3, Section 12, Par 1 of the 1987 Constitution.
Criminalistics has now become the alternative recourse of the investigator in
establishing the guilt or innocence of the accused. Science has therefore provided a
leverage to the investigator’s myriad of legal problems resulting from stringent provisions
of law.