Criminal Defense - A Look At The Component Method

Any criminal defense lawyer will tell you that there are a number of approaches when it comes to investigating a case. Outsiders often don't realize what an integral part of the job investigation is. They think of lawyers as professionals who take information directly from police and then play their roles in court. There is a great deal more to it than that. In the search for more effective practices, strategies have been developed. One such strategy is the Component Method, developed by a prominent Florida investigator named Brandon Perron. This strategy is widely used by lawyers in the field.

The Breakdown

There are six major parts of the Component Method, each of which is important to the process. These six parts include case review, the defendant interview, crime scene examination, witness investigation, witness interviews, and testifying. Used in the proper order, questions and concerns from one segment should lead naturally to the next. Even criminal defense lawyers who don't specifically subscribe to the Component Method will likely see a great deal of familiarity in the process. This strategy, however, can be effective for those who aren't good at organization or who have difficulty determining when an investigation is finished.

Guiding Subordinates

The Component Method may only be so helpful for a criminal defense lawyer who works all on his own. For a lawyer who employs several people to help him with a case, however, it can act as a wonderful guidance tool. By taking the elements of a successful investigation and standardizing them, it leaves less room for error. When a client's freedom is at stake, anything that can eliminate errors is a good thing. It is also the perfect manual for beginner investigators who aren't sure how to conduct the process without specific steps.

Remaining Unbiased

An investigator for the police is assumed to be unbiased. Their job is to uncover the truth of a situation, regardless of where it leads them. The role of a prosecution's investigator may be assumed to be biased against the defendant, but it shouldn't be. Both a criminal defense attorney and the prosecution should be as close to unbiased as possible when looking into the facts of a case. Certainly, in front of a jury, a biased story will be told on both sides. But when investigating the crime, it behooves both parties to conduct a thorough and impartial search for truth. The Component Method can help you do this.