ABOUT US

Since 1985, Francie Koehler has conducted a wide range of civil and criminal investigations at both federal and state levels in addition to supervising a staff of investigators. A missing person case she investigated was portrayed on Unsolved Mysteries and one of her capital cases was featured in A Suitable Job for A Woman, a book by British author, Val McDermid. More recently, author Ann Rule chronicled a case Koehler investigated in her true crime story, In the Name of Love. A licensed private investigator in California, Koehler's chief focus is pre-trial and post-conviction criminal defense. Her company, Special Circumstances, enables her to concentrate on her area of interest.

Prior to becoming a licensed private investigator in 1986, Koehler worked in corporate management positions including ten years as a district manager for a nationally known retailer and responsible for 150 person staff. Because of her retail background, Koehler is often asked to speak to retailers. In 1993, she was invited to Moscow where she spoke to Russian nationals interested in starting or privatizing their businesses. She also authored and filmed a three-part video for retailers entitled Loss Prevention - The Big Picture. Koehler is a frequent presenter at seminars and conferences and has authored a number of articles including Capital Defense: Why Mitigation? Why Bother? ; Death Penalty: The Charging Factor; P Is and Privacy - The Eye of the Hurricane; The Example of Paul Revere, and Pigeons of a Different Feather, to name a few.

Koehler is the mother of five, the grandmother of twelve and shares her home with her husband, Randy. She is a certified conflict mediator and works with community-based organizations in challenged communities to resolve conflict and facilitate increased communication. In her spare time, she trains interviewing and report writing skills, provides seminars on identity theft and is on the staff of the Defense Investigators Training Academy. She also volunteers for the San Jose, CA based Santa Clara University Innocence Project and has worked pro bono on behalf of the family of a missing California woman for twenty-three years.

Francie Koehler is the current president of National Council of Investigation & Security Services (NCISS) and was a two-term president of the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI) from 1999-2001, Legislation Chair from 2001-2004 and 2006 to present, and has served on its Board of Directors since 1990. She testifies frequently on behalf of California private investigators before California's Senate and Assembly Committees and received CALI's Legislative Excellence Award (2005). Koehler was recognized with CALI's highest honor, the Distinguished Achievement Award (2003), Investigator of the Year (1997), and received three CALI President's Awards, the most recent in June 2007. She served on the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) PI Advisory Committee from 2001 to 2003 and BSIS presented her the first-ever award to a PI for outstanding service to the private investigation industry (2001). Koehler also holds memberships in the following associations, National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI), California Attorney's for Criminal Justice (CACJ), California Defense Investigators Association (CDIA), Women Defenders, Council of International Investigators (CII), and World Association of Detectives (WAD).

Jacky Wagner has been working in the criminal defense arena since March, 2007, conducting various investigations on private and conflict cases. She is the owner of Verity Investigative Services, and is a graduate of the Center for Professional Investigations and Training (C.P.I.T.).

Prior to becoming a private investigator, Wagner served the community as a Deputy Sheriff. During her law enforcement career, she attained sharp shooter status in 1999 and 2000, was a training officer from 2001 to 2004 and she received a letter of commendation in 2004, Wagner honorably retired from the department as a Background Investigator.

Wagner also attained certification as an Emergency Medical Technician in 1994 and worked as a buyer for a large retail chain managing inventory, working with a monthly budget and supervising staff. Wagner lives with her partner of eight years and their two dogs.