Free CLI Practice Questions

Question 1

In a federal premises-liability case, a shopper recalls telling the floor manager, 'There is a puddle beside the freezer,' 15 minutes before the plaintiff fell. The shopper is available to testify. Counsel offers the warning solely to establish that the manager received notice, a disputed issue, rather than to prove that a puddle existed. How should its hearsay status be analyzed?

Accepted Answer

It is not hearsay for this purpose: the warning is offered to establish notice.

Answer

It is hearsay because the shopper's warning was made outside the courtroom.

Answer

It is an opposing-party statement because the warning was addressed to the defendant's manager.

Answer

It is admissible for its truth because the shopper is available for cross-examination at trial.

Question 2

With the required permission in place, an investigator trained in child interviewing asks an eight-year-old about a playground accident. The child says, 'I heard a bang, and then Mr. Lee was on the ground.' An adult has separately blamed a loose railing; the child has not mentioned a railing. Select the follow-up that develops the child's own recollection without adding an event.

Accepted Answer

Tell me more about what happened when you heard the bang.

Answer

What did the railing look like just before Mr. Lee fell?

Answer

Did the bang happen when the railing broke or when he hit the ground?

Answer

The adult nearby says the railing broke; what do you remember about that?

Question 3

A laboratory's DNA-mixture report compares two propositions:
H1: The defendant and one unknown person contributed the DNA.
H2: Two unknown people unrelated to the defendant contributed the DNA.
The likelihood ratio in favor of H1 over H2 is 800.

Which explanation accurately communicates this result?

Accepted Answer

Under the laboratory's assumptions, the observed DNA findings are 800 times more probable under H1 than H2.

Answer

The defendant is 800 times more likely to be a contributor than to be a noncontributor.

Answer

Only one in 800 unrelated people would be expected to match the mixture's DNA profile.

Answer

The defendant's direct contact during the offense is 800 times more likely than indirect transfer.

Question 4

The court in a federal civil action finds that a company negligently deleted relevant emails after its preservation duty arose. During discovery, complete copies, including all relevant metadata, were recovered from the recipients. No information remains missing. The requested relief rests specifically on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e). What is the significance of the recovered copies under that rule?

Accepted Answer

Complete replacement means the requirement that information cannot be restored or replaced is not met.

Answer

Negligent deletion after the preservation duty arose permits an adverse-inference instruction despite recovery.

Answer

An adverse inference remains available because the original server copies had greater evidentiary status.

Answer

Recovery affects the size of a sanction but not whether the rule authorizes relief for the deletion.

Question 5

For a CLI research white paper, an investigator develops an original comparison of two witness-location methods. The 1,350-word draft combines field experience with a technique learned from a published article. The article's ideas have been paraphrased, and none of its wording is quoted. Which documentation meets NALI's source requirement for this draft?

Accepted Answer

A footnote or bibliography identifying the article as the source of the borrowed technique.

Answer

A signed personal-knowledge declaration, because none of the article's wording was reproduced.

Answer

An acknowledgment of earlier investigators, without identifying which article supplied the method.

Answer

A personal-knowledge declaration and a source copy in private files, since the analysis is original.

Question 6

A competent adult witness finishes reviewing an investigator's interview summary and says, 'That is what I told you, and it is accurate, but I will not sign anything. I do not want to get involved in the lawsuit.' She does not withdraw her account. How should the investigator close the record?

Accepted Answer

Preserve the summary and document both her confirmation of its accuracy and her refusal to sign.

Answer

Leave the summary out of the investigative report until a signed statement can be obtained.

Answer

Ask a second investigator to countersign so the summary can be treated as the witness's signed statement.

Answer

Record that the witness recanted, since refusing a signature withdraws approval of the account.

Question 7

A surveillance-evidence review records these SHA-256 comparisons:
- The native recorder file was preserved and hashed when received.
- A documented conversion produced an MP4 viewing copy.
- The preserved native file still matches its original hash.
- The MP4 has a different hash from the native file.

A reviewer calls the mismatch proof of tampering. Which response correctly addresses that objection?

Accepted Answer

A converted file can have a different hash; assess the viewing copy against the preserved source and conversion record.

Answer

Changing the file format should preserve the hash when the visible sequence has not been edited.

Answer

Suspend use of both files until the custodian supplies versions whose hashes match one another.

Answer

Treat the matching source hash as proof that the MP4 shows every event without omission.

Question 8

Two explanations are proposed in a worker's injury lawsuit after a ladder fall: a rail fractured and caused the fall, or the rail fractured when the falling ladder struck the floor. No witness saw the fracture occur. The ladder remains available and unaltered; photographs show its position only after coworkers moved it. Which investigative assignment most directly distinguishes these explanations?

Accepted Answer

Have a qualified failure analyst examine the preserved fracture and surrounding components.

Answer

Compare the worker's injury records with the ladder's advertised maximum working height.

Answer

Reconstruct the impact sequence from the ladder's photographed position after it was moved.

Answer

Obtain a second statement asking the plaintiff to confirm that the rail fractured before the fall.

Question 9

'My lawyer told me not to talk, but I want to explain what happened.' This message arrives through social media to a private investigator retained by defense counsel. The investigator knows the sender is represented in this matter. The jurisdiction applies ABA Model Rule 4.2 to counsel's investigative agents, and no law or court order authorizes the contact. What response respects the applicable contact restriction?

Accepted Answer

Refrain from discussing the matter and have defense counsel seek the witness's lawyer's consent.

Answer

Accept a written account but avoid an interview, because the represented witness initiated the exchange.

Answer

Obtain the witness's written waiver and then discuss only the matters the witness chooses to volunteer.

Answer

Continue the conversation after disclosing the investigator's defense role and documenting the witness's agreement.

Question 10

The alibi chronology contains three verified findings:
- The robbery occurred at 21:35 according to an accurate scene clock.
- Another camera unmistakably shows the defendant elsewhere at a displayed 21:14; that camera ran six minutes slow throughout the relevant period.
- Under the incident conditions, the minimum possible journey between those locations was 20 minutes.

Choose the chronology and inference that the verified facts support.

Accepted Answer

The sighting was at 21:20; fifteen minutes is too short for the verified journey, supporting the alibi.

Answer

The sighting was at 21:08; twenty-seven minutes would permit travel to the robbery location.

Answer

The sighting was at 21:14; twenty-one minutes would permit travel if the recorded timestamp is retained.

Answer

The sighting was at 21:20; a pre-robbery recording cannot support an alibi unless it continues through 21:35.

Free CLI Practice Questions

Domain 1: Research white paper

Question 1

Domain 2: Written examination

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Domain 3: Oral examination

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

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