A. The Investigator
The investigator will conduct the investigation according to the processes set forth below. The investigation may be conducted under the guidance of a legal or ethics consultant appointed for this purpose.
B. The Investigative Process
1. The investigator will contact the complainant and respondent as soon as reasonably possible after receiving appointment.
2. Each party will be asked to provide a list of 3 or fewer people with direct knowledge of the incidents alleged in the complaint whom the investigator(s) will contact. A list of witnesses will be given to the investigators within 30 days of the request. For each person to be contacted, the parties shall provide the investigators with a means of contact and a brief statement of what the party expects the person to contribute to knowledge of the allegations. The parties shall give their consent and provide any necessary release to the person to be contacted so they can speak with the investigators. The investigators may interview additional witnesses in the following circumstances:
A. Either party may request that the investigators interview additional witnesses. The investigators may interview additional witnesses if the requesting party can show good cause and if, in the opinion of the investigators, the information offered by the additional witness would provide new information to support or rebut the allegations in the complaint, or
B. The investigators in their own discretion may interview additional witnesses if they determine in the course of their investigation that there are additional persons with relevant knowledge of the allegations in the complaint; or
C. If the investigators choose not to interview additional witnesses, they will add a brief statement as to the reason(s) for not interviewing any proposed witness in their report.
3. Interviews will be held with each party before any witnesses are interviewed. Interviews can occur in person, by telephone or Internet voice connection.
4. If one party is interviewed in person, the other also will be.
5. The process seeks to be conversational rather than confrontational. Cooperation and courtesy are expected from the investigator(s) and the parties. Phone calls are to be returned and requested information produced within reasonable times.
6. The investigator and/or investigator’s designees will function as information gathers. Information is assembled to allow the Hearing Panel to determine the facts on which a decision will be made as to whether a violation of the Code of Ethics occurred as alleged. The investigator may allege standards violated additional to those named in the complaint.
7. Neither party has a burden of proof. Rather, the investigator’s task is to assemble information so that the Hearing Panel in its fact-finding can construct the proofs from the evidence it is given. The task of each party is to supply the investigator with accurate and timely evidence throughout the investigation and to state clearly how the evidence relates to the allegations.
8. The investigator(s) will spend as much time as they determine reasonably necessary to gather enough information for the Hearing Panel to make an informed decision. The investigators may contact as many people as they determine necessary — these may be people suggested by the parties, by other sources, or originate with the investigator. Some people may be interviewed more than once.
9. The investigators are not required to inform either party of people with whom they have spoken or materials collected. However, any such information shared with one party should be shared with the other separate from or within the investigator’s report.
10. At the close of the investigation, the investigator will provide the Process Chair with the dossier of the case: a copy of the original complaint form, any written response, a chronology of the investigation, a summary of each interview, relevant correspondence, and any exhibits submitted. The investigator will write a brief report to the Process Chair consisting of and elaborating the above items. The report may include the investigator’s observations of affect and conditions not obvious in the collected data.
11. The case dossier will usually be sent by the Process Chair upon receipt to the complainant and respondent. At the Process Chair’s and investigator’s discretion, some information may be withheld from the parties if to do otherwise might seriously jeopardize justice or the physical safety of a party or other witness. Any information sent to one party will be sent to the other.