Join PIAVA? Our Members Care and We Care About Our Members

Join Us 

If you are a private investigator or related to the legal/security industry, you may want to consider joining PIAVA.  We have over 100 members in the Commonwealth, in every part of the state.  We have principal members and affiliate members.  Principal members are registered or licensed private (professional) investigators.  Affiliate members are private investigators from jurisdiction outside of the Commonwealth and/or industry related individuals who support the goals of PIAVA and agree to abide by our Code of Ethics.  An application is here: PIAVA PDF Application

And, yes, even attorneys can join.

PIAVA Speakers For January, February 2008 

One of PIAVA’s member benefits is the meetings with our various speakers (see Newsletter for last year’s speakers).  Last year, speakers, among others, were Ron McKown on digital photography, Nicole Bocra on internet research, Fairfax County Chief of Police David Roher on law enforcement and the private security industry and Ann Fourt, CPA, on small business, tax and retirement planning. 

For our January 2008 meeting, John Irvine and Hal Hendershot of Crucial Security, will talk to us about computer forensic investigations. 

In February 2oo8, Fairfax attorney, Edward Weiner of Weiner, Rohrstaff & Spivey, PLC, Weiner Rohrstaff Spivey will talk to us about ways private investigators can assist attorneys in trial preparation, litigation and he will touch upon evidence issues.  Ed is founder and Senior Partner of Weiner and Associates, which has been renamed Weiner, Rohrstaff and Spivey as of January 1, 2007.  He has been an active member of the Fairfax Bar Association since 1980. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Fairfax Law Foundation since January 2002 and is currently serving as its President. He also currently serves on the Virginia State Bar Council of Local Bar Leaders.   

So, you can readily see that PIAVA benefits current, newsworthy and educational.

Let me know if you are interested in membership.  We are always looking for good people.

Our members care and we care about our members.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Blogs–Urban Legend–Change Venue Says Attorney

An article at Law.Com, Law.Com, refers to a Tennessee defense attorney, Philip Lomonaco, Knoxville, TN, asking for a change of venue in a federal criminal case.  Lomonaco says that the Internet is the “largest unregulated source for information” in the community.  In his case, he says it has been used to outrage and taint the jury pool. 

Stephen Saltzburg, Chair, American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section, said this is first time he has heard about blogs cited for a change of venue.  Lomonaco considers that the blogs related to his case are distorting facts and raising false allegations.

Getting facts for a change of venue are something that private investigators can do to assist in defense of cases, whether civil or criminal.

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

president@piava.org

Private Investigator? Doh!—Great Musicians

Okay.  I’ve got to let you know about this one!  A Los Angeles private investigator, not a member of PIAVA, was arrested yesterday or so and charged with breaking into musician Chris Cornell’s Beverly Hills mansion.  To digress,  Chris Cornell was the sound behind Soundgarden, Seattle grunge rock, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog, read about at Wikipedia.  Well, Chris, it is reported, is involved in a divorce proceeding.

Private investigator, Matthew Turner, went to Cornell’s home in Beverly Hills, CA, to serve Cornell legal papers–a simple enough job for most people.  Turner, the PI, discovered that no one was at home, doh!  He let himself into the house and went to use the bathroom–”but was caught with his pants down after the whole incident was caught on security cameras.”  Story Here

 Folks, I do not make these things up.  I hope I can depend on some of our devoted attorney readers to help me out if worst comes to worst. Now, contactmusic.com reports that Turner Turner, an employee at California investigative firm Thomas Dale and Associates, is now facing one charge of aggravated trespassing and is due to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing on 12 December (07).  See Here.  Chris Cornell, by the way, was 12th in MTV’s “22 Greatest Voices in Music” survey–believe it or not ahead of David Bowie, ahead of David Bowie????  No way!  See his bio Chris Bio.

Better stuff is yet to come!

I apologize.

Bill Lowrance
President PIAVA

president@piava.org

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