Questions Flashcards
______ are written questions submitted to a party from his adversary, in order to find answers in the form of writing - that have relevance to the issues in a lawsuit, and are signed under oath.
a. Deposition
b. Disposition
c. Interrogatories
d. Interrogation questions
C. Interrogatories
Knowing the CA Vehicle Code is important because learning the laws of the road will help you
a. Determine the plaintiff
b. Determine the defendant
c. Determine the party mostly at fault
d. Testify as an expert during litigation involving a traffic collision
C. Determine The Party Mostly At Fault
The California Department of Insurance public online database holds information of _________
a. Insurance agents and brokers
b. Insurance fraud cases
c. Fugitive recovery agents
d. All of the above
A. Insurance Agents And Brokers
The best way to serve process in a federal case is _____
a. By reading the Manual of Rules for Associated Process Servers
b. By asking a judge
c. By following state law
d. By following local ordinances
C. By Following State Law
The defense of ______ is used when the defendant was induced to commit a crime he or she ordinarily would not commit but for the influence of a law enforcement officer
a. Roping
b. Affirmation
c. Entrapment
d. False Entrapment
c. Entrapment
A _______ is a person or business whom a claim is brought against.
a. Plaintiff
b. Prevailing party
c. Claimant
d. Defendant
d. Defendant
During formal court procedures, the initial questioning of a witness in a criminal trial by the person who called him or her is known as _________
a. Direct examination
b. Indirect examination
c. Cross examination
d. Re-direct examination
a. Direct examination
When an attorney attempts to impeach the other party’s witness for the first time, the attorney is said to engage in ________
a. Cross-examination
b. Imputation questioning
c. Re-direct examination
d. Direct examination
a. Cross-examination
What is one of the last stages in a jury trial?
a. Jury deliberations
b. Negotiations
c. Plea bargain
d. Jury instructions
a. Jury deliberations
In a trial by judge, when one of the parties in a civil action gives the judge an outline of the evidence he will present and what the evidence will prove, he is said to be engaging in a(n)
a. Opening statement
b. Briefing
c. Judicial conference
d. Hearing of the Evidence
a. Opening statement
Towards the end of the trial, but before jury deliberations, _________ are given.
a. Negotiation options
b. Pre-settlement options
c. Jury instructions
d. The defendant’s rights
c. Jury instructions
The ______ court hears matters involving family-related issues such as divorce or child custody.
a. Superior
b. Court of Domestic Affairs
c. Court of Domestic Appeals
d. Supreme
a. Superior
The US Court of Appeals hears cases from the __________
a. Superior Court
b. District Court
c. Federal Court
d. Supreme Court
b. District Court
In an effort to “rehabilitate” his or her witness after a cross examination by the prosecutor, the defense attorney is said to engage in ________
a. Direct examination
b. Redirect examination
c. Imputation questioning
d. A process inconsistent with the rules of evidence
b. Redirect examination
A _______ describes the pre-trial process of an attorney interviewing a person under oath with a court reporter present.
a. Disposition
b. Voire Dire
c. Deposition
d. Declaration hearing
c. Deposition
You investigate a slow-speed, two vehicle traffic collision. The crash occurred within four car length from the intersection. One of the involved drivers complained of “whiplash” to his neck. On the party claiming whiplash, his vehicle’s front air bag deployed but not the side airbags. What piece of evidence are you more than likely to find on the roadway?
a. A license plate
b. A piece of a taillight
c. Pieces of windshield
d. Glass pieces of an alcoholic beverage container
b. A piece of a taillight
(Note) The author explains whiplash is generally caused by rear-end accidents, and technically both a license plate and a piece of a taillight are correct answers. However, a piece of taillight is a BETTER answer as it is more likely. Author then explains the state exam “is notorious for having the examinee draw a number of inferences based on probability - not necessarily facts or lack thereof.”
During an administrative hearing, the attorney questioning the other party’s witness can ask questions the impute an answer. This line of questioning is known as ___________
a. Cross-examination
b. An impermissible practice
c. Direct examination
d. An interrogatory
a. Cross-examination
One of the second steps of a process during a lawsuit is to ________
a. File a complaint
b. File a case
c. Serve a summons
d. Serve a civil warrant
c. Serve a summons
During a redirect examination by the attorney who hired you, he forgets to ask you a question the would make or break the case. What should you do?
a. Not bring this issue up to the attorney - at least while you are on the stand
b. Request a side-bar conference with the magistrate
c. Raise your hand and ask the court clerk if you could talk about the issue
d. Politely inform the judge that you have more information to discuss.
a. Not bring this issue up to the attorney - at least while you are on the stand
Which of the following persons are NOT required to be licensed as a private investigator?
a. A person performing a surveillance assignment for a client
b. A retired or former district attorney investigator interviewing a witness
c. A person, who - without compensation - follows a subject and records him.
d. All re required to be licensed as a private investigator
c. A person, - without compensation - follows a subject and records him
The husband of your client wants an update on his wife’s case. How should you proceed?
a. If the wife has an attorney independent from her husband’s attorney, give the information to the wife’s attorney
b. Refuse to give the husband any information
c. Give the wife limited information on the update
d. Give the wife limited information that does not fall under the spousal privilege
b. Refuse to give the husband any information
Ten years ago, you finished an investigation for Attorney Bill Jones involving an invasion of privacy lawsuit. Mr. Jones represented Client ABC. The case was settled before trial. During that investigation, you received privileged communication from Client ABC. A new attorney client wants to hire you in a case where they will be representing a client who has filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit against Client ABC. How should you proceed?
a. Ask the new attorney client for legal advice on how to proceed
b. Contact the BSIS Ethics Hotline
c. Refuse to accept the assignment
d. Accept the assignment without directly handling the case; you can have one of your employee investigators handle the case.
c. Refuse to accept the assignment
The best way for most private investigators to determine the speed of a party involved in a crash is _________
a. By getting an expert opinion
b. By using the formula: Ve2 +30fd
c. By contacting a California Highway Patrol officer
d. By using the formula: 15.5 X 30df and taking the square root of that answer
a. By getting an expert opinion
________ are used to frame a responsive pleading or a deposition and are done mostly before a deposition
a. Interrogations
b. Discovery
c. Pleadings
d. Interrogatories
d. Interrogatories
You are working surveillance on a house to determine if a subject lives there. In the middle of your surveillance, you learned that your client has a local restraining order against him on this subject and the real reason for the surveillance is the client wants to harass the subject. What should you do?
a. Finish the surveillance per the agreement
b. Contact the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services to report the client
c. Finish the contract and observe the house from any distance over 100 yards
d. Leave immediately and stop working for this client
d. Leave immediately and stop working for this client
You are interviewing a client for a criminal defense case. During the interview, the client tells you that aside from the case you are hired to help him investigate, last week, he killed someone. What should you do?
a. Notify the client’s attorney
b. Stop working for the client
c. Contact a local judge for advice
d. Place the client under private person’s arrest
a. Notify the client’s attorney
You are contracted by a criminal defense attorney to help investigate a case where your client was accused of fraud. During your investigation, you learn that your client kidnapped and raped a witness; however, the witness is now safe. The law __________
a. Requires you to maintain confidentiality, however gives you the option of notifying law enforcement authorities if a crime was committed
b. Requires you to maintain confidentiality; however, it allows you to notify law enforcement authorities only if a felony crime was committed
c. Requires you to report the incident to law enforcement
d. Requires you to report the incident to law enforcement within 24 hours
a. Requires you to maintain confidentiality, however gives you the option of notifying law enforcement authorities if a crime was committed
You try to call a witness five times for an interview and he does not answer. What should you do?
a. Get a subpoena
b. Visit the person’s residence or employer
c. Try calling every day until you exhausted three weeks of effort
d. Contact the phone company and make sure the witness still uses that number
b. Visit the person’s residence or employer
Before answering any question on the witness stand, you should NOT ______
a. Answer the question immediately
b. Take a brief pause
c. Make eye contact with the jury
d. Tell the truth
a. Answer the question immediately
Which of the following is an example of dissuading or influencing a witness
a. Accusing a witness of not telling the truth
b. Hiding physical evidence from the police
c. Giving a witness tickets to a baseball game scheduled the same day as the trial
d. Lying to a witness to get her to tell the truth
c. Giving a witness tickets to a baseball game scheduled the same day as the trial
Whom must you contact if your employee is injured on the job as a result of being stabbed in the lung?
a. A workers’ compensation attorney
b. The Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS)
c. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health
d. The local law enforcement agency
c. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CAL/OSHA)
(Note): Within 8 hours, and to contact BSIS within 7 days if your employee caused bodily injury to another person.
A death record can be obtained through _________
a. The county recorder’s office
b. The county clerk’s office
c. The county comptroller’s office
d. The county record’s office
a. The county recorder’s office
You need to serve a subpoena duces tecum on a doctor’s office. What should you do?
a. Consult with the attorney who hired you
b. Serve the custodian of records
c. Serve the office manager
d. Serve the medical doctor
b. Serve the custodian of records
A new investigator of yours is tasked with finding the employee who steals from his employer. Your investigator is unable to find the suspect-employee. What should you do?
a. Discipline you investigator with a written reprimand
b. Terminate your investigator
c. End the assignment
d. Consider training or retraining your investigator
d. Consider training or retraining your investigator
During the middle of an interrogation, the subject tells you “I don’t want you to record me anymore.” What should you do?
a. Turn the recorder off, continue the interrogation, and take good notes
b. Ask the subject why and if there is a good reason, then shut the recorder off
c. Keep recording, but contact an attorney for advice
d. Terminate the interrogation
a. Turn the recorder off, continue the interrogation, and take good notes
The Penal Code section that states “Any person, except those specifically referred to in Section 1070 of the Evidence Code, who, knowing he is not authorized by law to receive a record or information obtained from a record, knowingly buy, receives, or possesses the record or information is guilty of a misdemeanor,” usually refers to someone who is trying to obtain what type of information?
a. Records from a P.O.S.T background investigation
b. License plate reader data
c. Information from a cable or satellite corporation
d. A “rap sheet”
d. A “rap sheet” (aka criminal offender record information)
If you have a commercial DMV account and you release driver history, you can be fined up to $100,000 and have your commercial account privileges revoked or suspended for up to five years. This statement refers to you, when you release or intend to release driver history information to _______
a. A licensed private investigator
b. Any person not authorized or specified in a requester code application
c. Any third party
d. All of the above
b. Any person not authorized or specified in a requester code application
To get “credit header” information, you need _________
a. A signed release from the subject
b. An oral release from the subject
c. Permission from a database company specializing in these types of systems
d. A search warrant
c. Permission from a database company specializing in these types of systems
To get a credit report, you normally need ________
a. A signed release from the consumer
b. A written release from the consumer
c. A search warrant
d. A business necessity for a legitimate purpose
b. A written release from the consumer
You just finished getting a written statement by a witness. When you leave, you notice that the statement contained some factual errors. What should you do?
a. Submit the report “as is”
b. Correct the errors for the witness and submit it to your attorney-client
c. Have the witness write a statement on what the correct version of the facts are, explain the other statement had factual errors, and the reason for the errors. Submit the incorrect and correct version to your attorney-client.
d. Consult with the local bar association
c. Have the witness write a statement on what the correct version of the facts are, explain the other statement had factual errors, and the reason for the errors. Submit the incorrect and correct version to your attorney-client
You are reviewing an affidavit. To you, the affiant’s signature appears altered. The first thing you should do and the least expensive is __________
a. Contact the notary public and request to examine his/her notary journal
b. Hire a questionable documents expert to review the signature
c. Compare the suspect signature with and exemplar signature
d. Contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation
a. Contact the notary public and request to examine his/her notary journal
The ________ allows you to carry a firearm on duty
a. Department of Justice
b. Attorney General
c. Local law enforcement agency
d. Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (by statutory authority of the BPC)
d. Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (by statutory authority of the BPC)
When you document evidence in chronological order and show the date and time the item was collected and by whom, you are using what type of system?
a. Evidence logging
b. Chain of custody
c. Preservation of Evidence
d. Custodial collection of evidence
b. Chain of custody
When you induce someone into doing something they ordinarily would not do but for the events that you put into motion, you are engaging in what type of practice?
a. Entrapment
b. Civil entrapment
c. Witness tampering
d. Roping
d. Roping
What is the best way to find out if someone lives in a particular house?
a. Go to the nearest utility company and file a Public Records Act Request
b. Use a database search
c. Contact the subject’s neighbors
d. Contact the local mail carrier
c. Contact the subject’s neighbors
The best way to re-create a traffic collision is by ________
a. Hiring an expert
b. Examining all relevant physical evidence and re-interviewing all witnesses
c. Asking a traffic officer for his opinion
d. Reviewing the traffic collision report
a. Hiring an expert
What is the best way to interview someone with a behavioral health issue?
a. Speak to him or her quickly
b. Speak to him or her as you would anyone else
c. Speak to him or her next to a psychiatrist
d. Speak to him or her over the phone
b. Speak to him or her as you would anyone else
If a suspect runs away from you, you should ________
a. Pursue him or her until the end of your client’s property line
b. Let him or her get away
c. Contact BSIS
d. Pursue him on or off the client’s property
b. Let him or her get away
A criminal defense strategy for someone accused of ________ is that the defendant backed out of an agreement to commit a crime and took every reasonable effort to thwart the success of that crime
a. Solicitation
b. Accessory before the fact
c. Conspiracy
d. Aiding and abetting
c. Conspiracy
The best way to find someone’s bank account is through ________
a. Pretexting
b. Obtaining a subpoena duces tecum or writ of execution and serving all banks in the subject’s area of residence or business
c A search warrant
d. The Department of Justice
b. Obtaining a subpoena duces tecum or writ of execution and serving all banks in the subject’s area of residence or business
The best way to tag evidence is by creating a label with your name, signature, license number, case number, contents, date, time, and ________
a. The place where you found the evidence
b. The evidentiary value of the item found
c. The client’s name
d. The client’s signature
a. The place where you found the evidence
Which of the following persons would make the better witness?
a. Someone who talked to another person who witnessed the event on surveillance video
b. Someone who will testify based on another’s perception
c. Someone who had been an intoxicated person, but who had first-hand knowledge of an event
d. Someone who has a record of lying
c. Someone who had been an intoxicated person, but who had first-hand knowledge of an event
The best way to search for a property record is by entering a name, address, and ________
a. Zip code
b. Telephone number
c. Property ID number
d. Parcel number
d. Parcel number
If a sworn arson investigator wants to read your report, you should ________
a. Refuse
b. Consult with your client for permission
c. Give the investigator a redacted version of your report
d. Contact the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services
b. Consult with your client for permission
Any person who uses ________ to look into the interior of any other area in which the occupant has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade the privacy of a person or persons inside, is guilty of a crime.
a. Binoculars
b. A camera
c. A cell phone
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
The best way to investigate elder abuse inside an adult care facility in cases where the victim has a problem remembering details, is first by ________
a. Interviewing the adult care staff
b. Interviewing the director
c. Interviewing the victim
d. Contacting the local police agency
c. Interviewing the victim
After you finish a declaration, the witness refuses to sign it. What should you do?
a. Ask the attorney who hired you for assistance
b. Sign for the witness, but place the word “refused” on the signature line
c. Contact the judge
d. Tell the witness he or she should receive a subpoena shortly
d. Tell the witness he or she should receive a subpoena shortly
What is the better business practice when interviewing a juvenile?
a. Notify the parents or get their permission
b. Do not interview them
c. Encourage the parents to listen in on the interview even if they are accused of wrongdoing
d. Interview the juvenile with an investigator of the opposite sex
a. Notify the parents or get their permission
A subject sends an email to three different co-workers. The email contains untruthful and embarrassing information. Which type of tort is this?
a. Slander
b. Harassment
c. Libel
d. Slander and libel
c. Libel
You finish interviewing an employee in an employer theft case and you leave the door wide open. The employee confesses to stealing. The confession is corroborated by other evidence. The manager walks by, overhears your conversation, and yells “thief!” The remark was directed at the employee. What type of tort was committed by the manager?
a. Discrimination
b. Libel
c. Slander
d. There is no violation of law
d. There is no violation of law