Write Away: Q is for Questioning

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Questioning breaks down into two main categories, legally speaking: interviews and the interrogation. (So many I words, so little time!)

Interview questioning is conducted with people not charged with a crime (yet or ever). Interrogation is the questioning of a suspect in custody.

Interview questions can either be with suspects (before they are taken into custody) or to gather information from witnesses or possible witnesses. If questioning someone police suspect of the crime, there is no need to provide a “Miranda” warning. Mirandizing is only done when the suspect is in custody with the intent to question. More on this below.

The interview is procedural, and while there may not be formalized rules for conducting interview questioning, each department will advise law enforcement officers of their expectations for conduct. So that turning off the camera thing so the officer can intimidate the suspect? Not gonna happen.

After a homicide or other felony, detectives question others to try to amass information those people have. Most questioning via interviews is with non-suspects. The purpose of interviews at the scene of the crime is to identify who saw what when and where.

Follow-up questioning by interviews might be with those same witnesses as new information is revealed or interviews might be conducted with people not at the crime scene but who are thought to have pertinent facts about the case.

Interrogation questioning occurs when the suspect is in custody and has received a “Miranda” warning. The intent of the interrogation is to determine if the detectives can gather enough information to prosecute this suspect.

Some law enforcement officers tell amusing stories about full confessions coming about before the suspect is charged. Uninformed suspects think they can say anything they want and it won’t count unless they received the “Miranda”. However, if someone volunteers information to an officer prior to being put into custody, it counts. Dumb crooks!

The “Miranda” warning originated with a case in my state of Arizona, named after the suspect in the case. The Supreme Court ruled that you can’t question  a suspect in custody without providing a “Miranda” warning:

• You have the right to remain silent.
• If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law.
• You have the right to consult with a lawyer and have that lawyer present during any questioning.
• If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire.
• If you choose to talk to the police officer, you have the right to stop the interview at any time.

There are exceptions to questioning while in custody the Court allowed stemming from later cases. If the suspect is in custody for one crime, you are allowed to question him/her (sans “Miranda”) about a different crime if it is in the interest of public safety. A second exception is it's allowed to ask standard booking questions. The third exception is when a jailhouse informant talks with the suspect.

When writing scenes of questioning people, authors need to get it right. Again, do not rely on TV shows for your models of questioning, either interviews or interrogations.

Read More:

How to interview a suspect

Questioning witnesses

In “the List”, things are not looking so good for Frieda’s future with Mort.

Quietly he said, “You know we’ve never really . . . what? Meshed? I suppose it’s as much my fault as yours. Hell, it’s nobody’s fault. We been married, what? 45 years?”

            “Forty-three,” she responded, tight-lipped.

            “Forty-three then. For 42 and a half of ‘em, you been miserable. Or acted like it anyway. I thought I’d be the one, finally, to make the move. But I wanted to make sure you had good transportation and a place of your own. I didn’t want to leave you cold.”

            Frieda sat silently, stonily still, processing what he had said. She roused herself, running a hand through her red, chemically curled hair to hide its trembling.

Write Away: P is for Plea Bargain

Again the options abound for words today. I discarded persecution, the distinctions among kinds jails and prisons, and the ever-popular “Perp”. By the way, “perp” is more of a TV show word. Real law enforcement officers prefer suspect or perpetrator. So unless one of your characters is a low life who only knows life from television, don’t use “perp.”

Nope, none of those. I settled today on plea bargain because there is so much angst and misunderstanding around the process.

A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal, negotiating a plea, or copping a plea) is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.

Not all cases can be plea bargained. If the crime the perpetrator was charged with has a mandatory sentencing requirement, the prosecution cannot amend the sentence. But sometimes the prosecutor can reduce charges to moderate the harsher, mandatory sentence.

However, no prosecutor can guarantee the suspect a sentence, only recommend a number on the range given for sentencing on specific charges. Sentencing is judicial purview, so savvy prosecutors involve the judge early on in the process so the judge and prosecutor are in tandem.

Both defense and prosecuting attorneys weigh the strength of the case and whether or not a trial or plea bargain is the more attractive option. Either attorney may broach the option. The suspect must agree to this option before it is implemented.

Even with a plea bargain, the defendant appears before the judge for a voir dire (oral examination) that might be quite lengthy. The judge will typically ensure that the defendant knows he/she is giving up certain rights: the right to a trial, the right to call witnesses, and the right testify. The judge makes sure the defendant knows what the charges are and what a guilty plea to each means. Without voir dire, a defendant might have claims for an improperly conducted judicial process. And that could result in additional time and money, one of the major reasons for the plea bargain.

Even though criticized, 90% of criminal convictions are achieved through plea bargains. For sure, there are advantages and disadvantages to the plea bargaining process. The mystery writer could build several scenes around the process using these pros and cons.

Pros for the defendant:

1) The trial might reveal more evidence that is even more damaging to the defendant with a risk of more severe penalty.

2) The jury could find defendant guilty of more severe charges.

3) The judge could be a stricter one and throw the book at the suspect.

3) Lesser charges appear on the defendant’s criminal record.

Pros for the prosecution:

1) Plea bargains result in a higher conviction rate than if all cases went to trial.

2) A plea bargain might result in harsher penalties for a co-defendant using testimony from the defendant in the plea deal.

3) The prosecutor clears a case from a crowded calendar avoiding a perhaps lengthy and expensive trial.

4) A jury might acquit or be hung, unable to decide (so a decision to re-try could happen).

5) Judges like settled cases for the same reasons so attorneys build good will with judges.

6) Prisons are overcrowded, so reducing sentences clears beds sooner.

Cons for the defendant:

1) The defendant must admit guilt and can’t try to convince judge and jury of innocence.

2) If innocent, the defendant gives up the right to try to prove that

Cons for the prosecution:

1) Victims and the public often see a plea bargain as being soft on crime, that justice was not served.

2) If the plea deal doesn’t include specifics of sentencing, judges might be more lenient.

Even with a plea bargain, and thus a prosecution, in the criminal case, a civil trial is still possible and some will plea nolo contendere (“no contest”) or “guilty with a civil reservation” proviso so as not to admit to civil liability. That doesn’t stop civil cases moving on and does not affect a verdict. The civil case has to prove itself without an admission of guilt for civil charges. The convicted criminal is saying, “I’m not going to help you prove your case.”

Are you reading “The List”? Things are not good with Freida and Mort. What will she do with this revelation?

           “Please tell me this means we are vacating that dreary apartment you’ve had since the Dark Ages?”

            “Well, not exactly,” Mort looked out at the water. “It means you are.”

            Mort picked up a mussel shell from a collection he had started earlier in the week. He stroked the purple-black linee that formed the striations on the outside of the shell. Still not looking at her, Mort explained the key and what it meant for their future.

Write Away: O is for Opportunity

Your MOM is complete with Opportunity. Means and Motive account for little if a suspect doesn’t have the opportunity to commit and potentially get away with the crime.  I must not have a clear understanding myself of MOM because to me, opportunity is an aspect of means. But, to others, I guess means is limited to weapon and ability to use the weapon. How limited is THAT??? Means, to me, clearly implies access, but, oh, well.

Opportunity, to the rest of the world, indicates you have to have the potential to be in the crime area at the right time without an alibi. So if you don’t have a driver’s license or car, do you have the opportunity to arrive at the site of the crime? Is there no independent way of accounting for your time so you had the opportunity to be there in that time window?

Sometimes opportunity is serendipitous other times planned. When opportunity is planned, killing can move over from manslaughter to murder. Remember the importance of intent in bringing charges.

Of course, that’s why it’s MOM. All three--means, opportunity, motive--have to be in confluence to make one a viable suspect. And the detective’s job is to ensure those three solidly nail one suspect. That is maybe the major way author's complicate their mystery plots. Creating anomalies or inconsistencies in MOM causes a likely suspect to be dismissed early on. It's only when there is resolution of MOM that the murderer is revealed.

Mort reveals more of his gift in “The List”.

Obediently, he rose to do her bidding.  As Mort clomped his flat-footed way down the front steps of the deck to the beach road, Fran sipped her wine and lit the last of the cigarettes in her pack. She drew the acrid air deep into her lungs and held it there, finally expelling a long, thin stream of smoke into the approaching dusk. Mort returned to find her contemplating the second key.

            “And this one, Darling? What in the world is this key to?”

            “That, Frieda, is the key to a co-op on the upper East Side. It’s small, just two bedrooms, but it’s right where the action is and around the corner from Le Pain Quotidien so you can eat there more often. It has a view of the Park. It also has a parking garage, and you know how hard those are to find in the City.” Mort smiled, seeming satisfied with himself and all the arrangements he had completed.

Write Away: N is for Niggle and Notes

While it’s true that both professional detectives and amateurs consider inconsistencies or anomalies, both niggle and notes are both referred to more often by the amateur detectives in our books. It’s probably an attempt on the author’s part to make the cozy mystery amateur detective look more mindful, attentive, and analytic.

Niggle, though not technically a mystery term, is an interesting word. It comes to us through Scandinavian in the early 1600s. It means a persistent anxiety. A suspicion. An annoyance or discomfort. Something you can’t shake off. Niggle can be a noun or a verb.

Just as professional detectives have hunches, so do amateurs, but amateurs seem to comment on them more. And things bother them more. They niggle. A fact doesn’t jibe. A comment niggles as the sleuth tries to recall why it might be important. Or a clue niggles at them as to how it fits with something else.

Niggling is at the root of sleuths figuring out the puzzle. If everything fell into place easily and smoothly and accurately, where would the story be? An author plants the clues in strategic places. Some of those niggle because they don’t seem to fit with other facts. But our amateur sleuth knows to pay attention to the little internal voice, the niggle, that urges further examination.

Notes are another essential part of our amateur’s toolkit. Oh, sure, police detectives take notes, too, and they will have scenes of examining them for patterns. But that happens even more frequently with amateur sleuths. They have a notebook, or a computer file, or backs of envelopes or write on their palms. Or maybe they use all these ways to keep track of the information flow.

Amateur sleuths pore over their notes. They cut them apart and reorganize information. They tie their notes to a timeline of activity. They highlight, circle, and underline things that niggle, things that seem insignificant but are likely of import. Some amateurs categorize notes from the get-go; others have a jumble of notes from clues listed as encountered.

Every amateur detective knows the minutiae of a murder case is overwhelming. Notes help with clarifying thinking as well as acting a central repository for information. The sleuths in cozies, especially, seem to feel the need to write notes for examination and re-examination.

What does Frieda think of her new car in today’s episode of “The List”?

            “Now don’t go getting all pinch-lipped on me, Frieda. I know how much you hate to change things, but it’s time. As to the car, hell, past time! Clyde told me the last time I took the Beemer in for a tune-up that it didn’t have much life expectancy left. He’s the one who advised me to get you another car. You said that’s the only garage you ever trusted, so I thought Clyde’s word would be good enough for you. Trust me, she drives like a dream. You’re gonna love ‘er once you get used to where all the buttons are! Wanna go give it a spin now?”

            “Not really. Though you probably should move it around to those extra parking spaces by the tennis court in back. Was that smart to park it on the road out there? You know how people speed down this dinky little road. I don’t want it wrecked before I even have a chance to drive it.”

Write Away: M is for Means and Motive

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So many possible M words for my theme of mystery terms. Mystery, itself, of course, is the big one. But I’ve written a lot about mysteries on more than a few blogs.

And McGuffin, a favorite M word, is scheduled for its own post later this year. Other M words abound, but I focused on two critical M words for this post.

The bookends for MOM, Means and Motive are the detective’s opening sorter for suspects. Means and motive provide the guts of any mystery story. The O is coming up on, you guessed it, O Day!

Most murderers are not psychopaths or hardened criminals. Psychiatrists who study murderers agree that most of them appear perfectly normal until they kill. In those cases, something happens that tips them over to murder. And your bias is true. Most murderers are men. In a study with 5000 participants, researchers found that 84% of women and91% of men have had at least one clear homicidalfantasy.

So let’s get to means and motive.

Means is an interesting word, a polysemous one, in fact. But in mysteries and crime fiction means has a very specific definition.

Means, in general, is an action or a system bringing about a result. In murder or other serious crimes, there is an intent component. The intent is to kill or to burgle or commit some other felony. Intent causes the perpetrator to select and hone the means in order to conceal the action or system or the creator of the action or system. The perpetrator does not want to be found out or caught. Additionally, the means includes the murder weapon and the facility of the killer to wield the weapon, be it car or gun or knife.

Thus means, for a felonious act, typically involves manipulation of dates, times, places, other suspects or additional aspects of the crime in order to conceal involvement. Perhaps the murderer takes shooting lessons to ensure the ability to perform the task. Means is more than the action of the crime itself. When writing mysteries, the means is one of the earliest decisions the author makes. Right means keeps the book focused and on target. Messy means, inconsistent means, illogical means and your book is in danger of falling apart.

Motive is the impetus for the crime. Motive is the raison d’être leading to murder or theft or kidnapping or other felony.

P.D. James says there are only four motives for a crime: Love, lust, lucre, or loathing. Maybe. But I do think that is simplifying the term overmuch. In the article cited above, criminologists think crime has two bases: instrumental (gain of money or something else) or expressive (anger leading to impulsive killings). Perhaps. But there is a pathology for serial killers that doesn’t match that. Motives are complex and thus can be fun for the mystery writer to develop.

After extensive research into kinds of motives (okay, an hour on the Internet), I came up with dozens of motives. I am categorizing murder motives in a future blog post for you to use in your books. I will give examples of how the motive plays out. I could do a similar chart for other felonies, and I may.

Think of why someone would resort to murder. What could be a motive for a heinous act? Could you ever reach that point? If so, what are the circumstances of such a situation? I would kill, I think, to protect my children. Try putting yourself into the mind of the murderer as a way to develop a reasonable motive and one you could write about honestly and authentically.

Read on to see what happens with Mort and Frieda in “The List”. 

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            Mort faced Frieda. “Is that what you think of me? Is that how you see it when I try to take care of you?”

            “Take care of me? Oh, yes, I see you very clearly. Everything’s about you and your comfort. What you want with never a concern about me and the pressures I face and the magnifying glass that is on me and all my actions. A nobody like you can fly under the radar, but I, I am always on display. Why, not more than a week goes by but I don’t get asked for my autograph. Whoever asked for your autograph or asked you to speak to ten thousand people?”

            Mort picked up his gin and tonic and sipped. Putting the glass back on the table, he peered into her concealed eyes.  “Nobody knows me, you’re right, and that’s just fine with me. I’d rather make my millions quietly. And just when did you last speak to ten thousand people, Frieda? I think you don’t get it that your star is no longer rising. I’ve tried to shield you, but your contract may not be renewed. It’s time to start making plans for the future.”

            “I have my future, and it’s just like my past. Calm, ordered, boring even. I hate drama. And you’re wrong about my contract. There’s just a delay getting the details worked out. I’m certain the contract is in the works. But my car? How could you get rid of my car?”

Guest Post: "The Good and Bad of Writing a Series" by F.M. Meredith

I always enjoy hosting F.M. (aka Marilyn) Meredith on one of my blogs. She is a consummate professional, incredibly productive, an amazing marketer, and just a darn good person. I am happy to count her among not just my colleagues, but my friends as well. Today is a topic that hits close to home for me!

The Good and Bad of Writing a Series

What I like best about writing a series is that I get to interact with a set of characters that I’ve come to regard as friends. I truly want to know what is going to happen to them next—and the only way to find out is to write the next book.

Knowing your characters is one of the good about writing a series. With the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, there is a whole cast of continuing characters. I can choose to focus on someone new when I write the next book. And because I write about the police officers’ private lives as well as what happens on the job, I always have threads that I can pick up and continue.

Knowing the setting saves a lot of time, though I often introduce new places in Rocky Bluff as I do in the latest, Violent Departures.
 

I like to describe the homes people live in, and it’s fun finding the kind of houses that will fit the characters and the situations I’m writing about.

What’s Bad—or difficult—is finding new crimes to write about, ones I haven’t used before or thinking up a twist with the crimes that will fit into the larger plot.

And of course, the large plot must be something I haven’t used before. Questions I ask myself are: Who is going to get murdered? Why? Who had would want to see this person dead or profit by his or her death? And did these people have the opportunity? Maybe it isn’t going to be a murder, but something else. A mystery the detectives must solve, and if so, how can I make it intriguing enough to keep the reader turning pages?

Maybe the hardest part of writing a series is making sure if a new reader picks up the latest book in the series that there is enough information about the characters and a bit of their back story that the reader knows what’s going on. At the same time, I must be careful that what I put in won’t be boring to someone who has been a follower of the series.

I should add that it’s important that I don’t get bored with the series—if I ever do, that will be the time to stop writing about the Rocky Bluff Police Department.

F. M. aka Marilyn Meredith

Blurb for Violent Departures:

College student, Veronica Randall, disappears from her car in her own driveway, everyone in the Rocky Bluff P.D. is looking for her. Detective Milligan and family move into a house that may be haunted. Officer Butler is assigned to train a new hire and faces several major challenges.

To buy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00URUJAUE

 
Bio:

F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of over thirty published novels. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Besides having family members in law enforcement, she lived in a town much like Rocky Bluff with many police families as neighbors.

Contest:

Because it has been popular on my other blog tours, once again I’m offering the chance for the person who comments on the most blog posts during this tour to have a character named for him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery.

Or if that doesn’t appeal, the person may choose one of the earlier books in the series—either a print book or Kindle copy.

Links:

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/marilynmeredith

Lorna Collins asked me why ghosts tend to appear in so many of my books. You can find out what I told her tomorrow at http://lornacollins-author.blogspot.com

Write Away: L is for Larceny and Lineup

This post is a day early because I have a guest scheduled tomorrow and I wanted the day to be hers. And, it IS Tuesday somewhere in the world already. So, early L and a great guest post awaits you tomorrow! Yay! I'll bring you M on Wednesday as scheduled.

Larceny is a common-law property crime. Larceny is the unlawful taking of another’s personal property with the intent of permanently depriving the owner of it. Usually it is a non-violent crime.

To be classed as larceny, there are three factors that must be met: the intent must be felonious, the intent is for the property to be appropriated for personal use, and the property must be taken from another’s possession (without the will of the owner), not just found and appropriated.

Larceny involves personal property, so unlawful taking of real estate wouldn’t fit the definition. Picking an apple off a tree is not larceny, but under some circumstances, taking an apple from that tree which is on the ground, might be classed as larceny. And larceny involves any degree of removal, even if the item is dropped back into the owner’s lap.

The value of the stolen property determines whether the theft is grand or petty larceny. Each state sets the amount distinguishing grand and petty larcenies.

If you are including larceny as a crime in your book, carefully read up the legal implications for your setting. This is a trickier crime than it appears at first glance.

A police Lineup (British: Identity Parade) is a cast of suspects or others displayed to witnesses for identification purposes. The witness’s putative identification must be confirmed to a level for presenting the lineup identification as evidence in court proceedings. It is believed that showing several possibilities to witnesses, while demanding more of memory, is more likely to lead to more accurate identification.

The constitutional protection against self-incrimination does not apply to lineups. One may be compelled to appear in a lineup. Police lineups conducted prior to charging someone with a crime or indictment are not required to allow counsel to be present. As you might imagine, how the lineup was conducted could jeopardize the state’s case on several fronts. I’m sure you can see several scenario possibilities for your crime and criminal.

The Innocence Project claims that eyewitness misidentification accounts for 72% of convictions overturned by DNA evidence. Police know the concerns and try very hard to ensure the objectivity of lineups.

To be admissible, the lineup must be conducted fairly. Police are barred from saying or doing anything to influence the identification. Ways to keep the lineup fair include: using officers who don’t know the identity of the suspect, excluding people who look nothing like the description, using foils who fit the profile, using people of similar height/complexion/build, everyone standing side by side and showing frontal and profile views, using a “six pack” (photo array), and video recordings of suspects mixed with volunteers. Some departments are using sequential photo arrays (one at a time) rather than simultaneous (six photos at a time) as a way to ensure more accuracy. Interestingly, telling witnesses they don’t need to choose one of the lineup, leads to fewer false identifications.

Often the physical lineup happens in a space like we see on TV (darkened room with one-way mirror, suspects lined up with height markers behind them), but not always. The rooms can vary. In a “show up”, only one suspect is shown to the witness.

In your story, you may want to show a lineup scene. Check with your local police to find out what they use so you can be accurate for your locale.

Read more of “The List” in part 12. In this scene, Mort and Frieda disagree about Mort's intent.

“Listen,” Mort responded, “that heap lived a lot longer than I thought it would. It’s almost as old as that typewriter you won’t replace. I just did for you what you wouldn’t do. You need a good car.”

            “And why is that? We hardly ever use my car in the city. I use a car service if you can’t take me to a book signing or a speech. I can’t remember when I last drove.”

            “Well, that might change. You need to be prepared.”

            “So you just took it on yourself to make that decision. Typical of you! You always have to be in control, don’t you? You know what’s best for me. Go to some godforsaken edge of the world for a week. Get a new car. What’s next? What else have you shifted in my perfectly ordered world?”