I have had the pleasure of working recently with Robert Gaines, a private investigator in Okanogan County.  I believe I met Bob Gaines some years back when he was a detective for the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office and the Task Force and I was a prosecutor.  He has a lot of detective experience, and recently he has been helping me as a defense investigator in a case in Okanogan.  He has been great to work with.  He is also available for insurance and fraud investigations, service of process and civil papers.  Check out his website Cascade Investigations.  He has been a great asset to me because he understands how Okanogan works.  For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Okanogan County is about the size of my home state of Connecticut.  Okanogan County is 5,315 square miles, and Connecticut is 5,544.  So having a local help me out is an asset.  Bob Gaines will also be taking cases in Chelan County and Douglas County.  Although people may often think of private investigators as being important in divorce cases, etc., actually, having a private investigator in a criminal case is important.  Much like an indigent defendant has a right to an attorney at public expense, defendants in major criminal cases are entitled to investigators at public expense to assist the defense lawyer.

Recently the Washington State Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a juvenile who plead guilty, and then sought to withdraw his plea.  See State v. A.N.J.  Part of the reason the court allowed the defendant to withdraw the plea was because the original defense lawyer took no steps to investigate the case.