Prepare the Statement.
After the interview or interrogation has been completed,
summarize the results.
This summary is the statement and is recorded on DA Form
2823.
Use your notes or an electronic recording of the interview to provide the
facts. All statements are made in the first person, since it is a record of the
interviewee's statement.
The last statement of a sworn statement and
interrogations should read--
Q: Do you have anything you wish to add concerning the matter under investigation?
A: No.
///END OF STATEMENT///
You may change the verbiage and grammar to make it readable.
Quotations that are
material to the case must be kept verbatim.
There are several ways to present the information on DA Form 2823.
In the
narrative method, the statement is written in the interviewee's own words.
This
method is usually used with cooperative victims and witnesses.
In the question and answer method, specific questions and the interviewee's
responses are recorded. This limits the information in the statement to relevant
information only. Its main disadvantages, however, are that it is time consuming
and may suppress valuable information.
The combination method involves both the narrative and the question and answer
methods.
In this instance, the narrative would be a recap of the interviewee's
story in his or her own words. The questions and answers would fill in any gaps
with pertinent information not covered by the interviewee's narrative.
When you (or an assistant) are typing the statement, mistakes are bound to occur.
Mistakes must be handled in one of two ways:
o
If you catch the mistake right after you type it, type slash marks over the
mistake, leave a few spaces for initials, retype the correct word, and
continue.
o
If you catch the mistake after you are done typing, line through the mistake,
print the correct word above the mistake, and have the interviewee initial
the mistake.
Do not erase or cover up a mistake. You are not supposed to be a typist, so you
are bound to make mistakes. Line through the mistake only once so that it is still
readable. Otherwise, it looks like you are trying to conceal something.
Have the interviewee initial all corrections.
After all, this is supposed to be
the interviewee's statement.
The interviewee must acknowledge that whatever
changes were made to his statement are correct.
Failure to have an interviewee
initial a correction or change may cause problems when it is introduced in court.
2-27
MP2004
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