On the twenty-first day of trial, a jury found John Jonchuck guilty of murdering his daughter Phoebe. There was never any doubt that Jonchuck dropped his 5-year-old daughter from a bridge into Tampa Bay. A St. Petersburg police officer saw him do it. The question for jurors was whether Jonchuck was legally responsible for his […]

A Washington, D.C. police supervisor was fired after providing expert testimony in an ACLU lawsuit. The Searches On September 27, 2017, Officer Sean Lojacono conducted a search of a man in Southeast Washington, D.C.. The search was captured on a cell phone video that went viral online after it was posted on YouTube. The video […]

An expert psychiatrist has testified that a murder defendant had a diminished ability to premeditate or deliberate the killing of his wife due to a dissociative episode. The Crime On December 5, 2013, Cynthia Grantham received a call from her brother-in-law, Joseph Levi Graham. Grantham was crying and said, “Cynthia, have you heard?”  Grantham told […]

Steven Chaney was added to the National List of Exonerations after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared that he was “actually innocent” of two murders. Chaney served 31 years in prison based largely on discredited bitemark evidence. Chaney’s conviction was initially affirmed by an appellate court that said no more than this about the […]

The FTC’s lawsuit against Qualcomm is awaiting a verdict, which could have a significant impact of the future of smartphones. Experts for each side have differing view on whether Qualcomm’s policies hurt competition. Qualcomm is the world’s largest provider of mobile chips.  It created the technology that connects phones to cellular networks. Qualcomm makes a […]

A federal judge will not allow a hoarding expert to testify in the trial of the Orange County, New Jersey GOP Chairman who is on trial for tax evasion. The Charges On January 10, 2019, Orange County GOP Chairman George Gilmore was indicted on six federal tax charges.  Gilmore was charged with one count of […]

A former priest who was defrocked after allegations of child sexual abuse has also lost his licenses to practice medicine. Sex Abuse Allegations The Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas began receiving allegations of sexual abuse of minors against Reverend John H. Wisner beginning in May 2012. Reverend Wisner was immediately suspended from active ministry and […]

Fans of the CSI shows know that forensic experts can provide valuable evidence to help convict the guilty. Criminal defense lawyers know that forensic experts can help innocent defendants avoid conviction by exposing junk science relied upon by prosecutors. Examples of junk science that lead to wrongful convictions include bite mark comparisons, hair analysis, and […]

Metadata (the electronically stored data in digital photographs and recordings) has become an increasingly important source of information for attorneys. Expert witnesses who understand metadata are frequently called upon to explain the hidden properties of digital data to courts and administrative agencies. An administrative appeal in New Jersey addressed metadata (or its absence) in audio […]