Which condition can be fatal to the interview process?

• A. Interviewing suspects first.
• B. Inability to identify witnesses or competently interview.
• C. Having too much time.
• D. Lack of video recording.

Answer: (B)

The ability to identify who has relevant information and to interview those people competently is the foundation of a credible investigation. If you can’t pinpoint the witnesses who can speak to the facts, you’ll miss essential perspectives and key details. If you can’t interview them effectively—asking the right open questions, avoiding leading prompts, and capturing accurate, complete responses—the statements you gather may be incomplete, biased, or unreliable. When both identification and interviewing competence fail, the interview phase loses its integrity and usefulness, which can derail the whole investigation—hence it’s described as fatal to the interview process.

Other scenarios aren’t inherently fatal on their own. Interviewing suspects first is a common practice, ample time can be managed, and lack of video recording can be mitigated with good notes and transcripts. But failing to locate the right witnesses or failing to interview them properly directly undermines the evidence base and the fairness of the process.