November 19, 2009

Austin Community College, Criminal Justice Advisory Board

 

Invited the Criminal Justice Departmental Chair last month, Louis Akin has been approved and accepted as a member of the Austin Community College, Criminal Justice Advisory Board.  Akin was cordially welcomed by the members of the Board at its meeting today. Akin, who himself once took classes at ACC, is one of two civilian members on the Board and the only member who is in private practice as a crime scene analyst and criminal defense investigator.

 

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Yogurt Shop case charges finally dropped

Austin private investigator Louis L. Akin was the sole defense investigator on the Yogurt Shop Murders case from 2001 to 2009. The prosecution finally had to give up their stubborn hold on the case after admitting they could not find any evidence to link the two men to the murders of four young women. The men, Michael Scott, who had spent 12 years in prison, and Robert Springsteen who had been on death row, were set free. The men were to be re-tried for the murders after the case was overturned on appeal because of tactics used by the prosecutors in the first trials. The case was dismissed, because there was no physical or circumstantial evidence or witnesses to connect either man to the crimes. Akin assisted the defense by finding valuable evidence that shed doubt on the police investigation. Michael Scott's defense lawyers were Carlos Garcia, Dexter Gilford, and Tony Diaz.

 

 

June 15, 2009

New website for certified eavesdropping countermeasures technicians (TSCM)

 

Louis Akin is a certified eavesdropping countermeasures technician qualified to perform electronics sweeps to find taps and bugs in homes and offices. There are only six private investigators in Texas who are qualified by training and experience to perform electronic sweeps for bugs, taps, and other eavesdropping devices and who have been certified as TSCM technicians in  the State of Texas.

 

The certified investigators who have received formal training and have the equipment required to perform sweeps have created a nonprofit referral website www.tscmtech.net where for the protection of consumers who need professional sweeps. Some private investigators who advertise electronic sweeps are not qualified to perform the sweeps and do not have the expensive equipment required to find the devices.  The TSCM certified technicians urge people who need sweeps performed to contact a certified technician through Technical Surveillance Countermeasures Referral Service.

 

February 2009

Texas Association of Licensed Investigators News Release

 

Former TALI Region Four Director, Louis Akin, was awarded TALI's highest honor, the Meritorious Service Award for Investigative Excellence, 2009, for using a confidential informant to find witness to a murder who would had refused to talk to the police. The witnesses identified the murderer and agreed to talk to the police. The murderer was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Without Louis Akin's intervention the killer would likely have gone free.

 

Texas Criminal Defense Investigators' Alliance, September 19, 2008

Louis Akin Takes the reins as President of Texas Criminal Defense Investigators' Alliance

 

Louis L. Akin was elected President of the Board of Directors of the Texas Criminal Defense Investigators' Alliance (TCDIA) in Austin today. "This new Board has a lot of energy and creativity and a lot of work to do." Akin said. "Our first priority will be to set up statewide committees to research and find solutions to common problems in criminal defense investigation in Texas today. We will be working on Standards of Performance, training, indigent defense issues, and other areas. We will also do training for investigators and lawyers and pay special attention to the interface between them when forming the criminal defense team."

 

Texas Association of Licensed Investigators News Release, July 2007

Louis Akin elected TALI Region Four Director

Louis L. Akin, LPI, was elected Regional Director for Region Four by the membership of TALI. The region includes Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christie and all counties between. Akin proposes to establish city chapters in each major city for the purpose of bringing local investigators together for lunches, seminars, and local business meetings. "I want to implement rolling seminars that will move across the region providing information that is not usually covered in the state conventions. They might include talks on using business software, filing sales tax receipts, ethics courses, updates on laws and regulations, things of that nature."