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Richard G. Christopher
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Civil & Criminal Investigations
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Court Qualified Expert
State & Federal venues
Fingerprint &
Handwriting
Comparison/Identification
Event Probability Analyst
Evidence
Evaluation
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Specializing in
Signature
Authentication
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Welcome to my website. If you are here for the
same reason as most, you have a matter of great
importance to you that might be resolved with my help. In that
regard, whether your matter is civil or
criminal, if you retain me I promise I
will personally handle every aspect of the
forensic work myself. That means I will acquire,
or help your attorney acquire, or gain access
to, whatever physical evidence is lawfully available in
order to successfully litigate your case. I
will collect, process, document, and preserve, that
evidence; do the photography and prepare the
exhibits for trial. When the investigation is
complete, I will prepare any reports requested and only you will see them unless
you direct, or the law requires, otherwise.
I have been a defense & plaintiff
investigator since leaving law enforcement in 1976;
conducting forensic and general investigations
full time since 1983.
In 1987, to polish my legal skills, I also
earned certification as a Legal Assistant
and managed a local law office in Wareham,
MA. All considered, my
career in investigations and forensics for close
to six decades and I have investigated a
multitude of crimes ranging from adultery
and arson to murder and shoplifting. In those
fields, on hundreds of occasions, Massachusetts Courts have appointed me to
investigate, or perform expert services of one
kind or another, to assist in the defense of
indigent persons charged with felony crimes
and/or misdemeanors.
My interest in the forensic sciences took root in
my early teens (1947) when a police officer took
a liking to me and showed me how to "roll"
(take) fingerprints; I was thirteen. Two years later I
took my first course in handwriting analysis. In
1954, while in the Marine Corps, I began
studying handwriting in earnest. After a tour of
duty in Korea, I was transferred to Yokosuka,
Japan and assigned to a military police unit of
the postwar Occupation Forces. Thereafter,
upon receiving an Honorable Discharge, I
attended Fresno State College (CA) majoring in
Criminal Justice and later Northeastern
University (MA) taking mostly courses to enhance
my skills in forensics and investigative areas
for which I had a proclivity; since then I have
achieved the expert status I sought. That has
been augmented time and again over the years
through law enforcement seminars and courses,
continuing legal education (CLE) programs of the
Massachusetts Bar Association, and other
legal/law related organizations. I continue
studying even today.
My
background began in 1958, with law enforcement and
includes serving as a patrol officer with
additional full-time duties as the crime scene
photographer, fingerprint &
handwriting expert and prosecutor for the
Provincetown (MA) Police Department, and as the Chief
of Police in Wellfleet, MA. On the federal
level, I served a combined ten-year-tour as a
Special Agent with the U.S. Treasury Department
and the U.S. Department of Justice. During my
tenure as a Special Agent with the Treasury
Department – in connection with federal law
enforcement, I
lectured to faculties of several New England
colleges and universities; the Maine,
Massachusetts, and New York, State Police
Academies; local police departments; fraternal
organizations (Rotary Clubs, Lions, and Masons)
and various airlines executives and pilots
organizations. In January 2007, I was appointed
by the Bristol County
District Attorney (Sam Sutter) to
investigate nine cold case murders of New
Bedford area prostitutes; the so-called, "Highway
Killings" (Circa 1989).
College notwithstanding, as a police
officer, I committed to the
forensics investigative field in 1959, when I took advantage of an
opportunity to attend a one-thousand-hour
crime scene investigation (CSI) course under the
auspices of the Massachusetts State Police
(MSP). The classes and instruction were intense
and covered thoroughly fingerprint development,
comparison, identification, and classification,
as well as crime scene investigation and
evidence photography. While there I had the good
fortune of making the acquaintance of the MSP
handwriting expert who whetted my appetite even
further to gain journeyman expertise in that
field, too. Upon completion of the CSI training
I strove to maintain and perfect my forensic and
general investigative skills through self-study
and attendance at various law enforcement
seminars for police officers including another
intense 80-hour course in Advanced Criminal
Investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
I was qualified as a forensic expert in the
summer of 1960, about three months after
completing the studies with the MSP. That
was also the first time I testified as an
expert. The case was the
Commonwealth vs. Frank C. Davis, and
involved both fingerprint and handwriting
identification. Since then, I have many times
qualified and testified as an expert in state
and federal courts in those and other forensic
fields, including Event Probability Analysis
(EPA). I have maintained, expanded, and
enhanced my analytical and investigative acumen,
expertise, and general knowledge of the law and
forensic sciences from my first days as a police
officer.
During my tenure as a police officer (1959 – 1966) I
investigated, photographed, and processed every
crime scene (hundreds) in my jurisdiction and
some other venues, too. In that same period, I made
600 felony arrests single-handed, and
interrogated thousands of individuals of all
ages, from all walks of life, public and private
sectors; victims, witnesses, and perpetrators,
in both civil and criminal arenas. As the [de facto] prosecutor for the
police department, I prosecuted hundreds of
cases in the Second District Court of
Barnstable, MA.
Rest assured that when you hire me,
you will get me, a professional: on time,
focused, and accountable. And, if the outcome of
your case turns on my integrity, skills, or work
quality, you win! Give me a call. |
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