Upthread someone asked about the whole issue of why this wasn't called a criminal investigation. I happened to be over on the Roman Lopez thread ( 11 year old boy who disappeared from home and was found dead). No charges have been laid and LE is saying it isn't a criminal investigation.
I posted as below:
Tealgrove said:
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Very bizarre statement however, the Gannon Stauch "investigation" isn't criminal either and there are no POI's except that searches take place daily and the Crime Lab has been at the house several times.
Seems like a common theme among LE statements these days.
MOO
A VERIFIED ATTORNEY answered as below:
It may just be legalese. If you have a criminal investigation with suspects being "detained" for interrogation by LE as potential defendants, those people are entitled to a lawyer and must be read their rights. If you are merely investigating a missing person or a suspicious death with no criminal investigation and no suspects, you are not detaining people for interrogation - you're merely interviewing witnesses and they do not have rights or need lawyers.
A good defense lawyer would tear this apart based on what was factually happening- it doesn't matter what you call it if you are in practice interrogating a suspect, attempting to get them to incriminate themselves in a crime.
However, it may be standard practice in certain LE departments (and it looks like it is growing) to avoid triggering these protections for as long as possible.
Perhaps this will answer a few questions.