Interviews/Sworn Statements

INTERVIEWS/SWORN STATEMENTS: As former Federal Agents, our investigators are intimately familiar with the procedures involved in conducting interviews and taking sworn statements.  Interviews, by definition, tend to be more informal and may or may not involve audio recording.  They can take the form of a one-on-one sit-down or a neighborhood “canvas”.  A sworn statement (also called a sworn declaration or a statement under the penalty of perjury) is a bit more formal.  It is a document that recites the facts pertinent to a legal proceeding.   It is very similar to an affidavit, but is not witnessed and sealed by an official such as a notary public.  Instead, the person making the statement usually signs a separate endorsement paragraph at the end of the document, stating that the declaration is correct under penalty of perjury.