Experts Help Justice Department Make Cases Against Capitol Rioters

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The Capitol riot investigation has benefitted from people who recognized neighbors, co-workers, and relatives in videos that were posted to social media accounts. Many individuals who stormed the Capitol were either proud of their actions or thought their friends would be entertained by their antics. As they added evidence of their crimes to social media […]

Defendant Tries to Exclude Expert Who Used Electric Knife to Carve Up Human Cadaver

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The legal defense team of a woman accused of murder is attempting to exclude a forensic anthropologist from testifying, stating that prosecutors did not disclose an expert report which examined whether or not a human body could be dismembered by an electric carving knife.  The Crime Kimberly Kessler is accused of the May 2018 murder […]

False Confession Expert Can Testify During Kowalski Murder Trial

A man’s conviction for double murder was vacated when concerns were raised about the relationship between the judge who presided over his case and the murder detective involved in investigating the murders. Now, an appeals court has ruled that a false confession expert, who was not allowed to testify at the first trial, will be […]

How Far Can Lawyers Push to Discover Evidence of Expert Witness Bias?

The potential bias of an expert witness is not usually a ground for excluding expert testimony. Bias goes to credibility and credibility is for the jury, not the trial judge, to determine. Before an expert can be excluded for bias, the bias must generally be so obvious that a judge can say as a matter […]

Expert Accuses Munsch Hardt Of Reusing His Old Reports

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A telephone systems expert witness and a telecommunications company have accused a Texas-based law firm of reusing expert witness reports to deceive Telephone Consumer Protection Act plaintiffs.  The Dispute Telephone systems expert witness Aaron Woolfson and the telecommunications company that he founded, TelSwitch, Inc., claim that Texas-based law firm Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC […]

Using Expert Witnesses in Arbitration Proceedings

Arbitration clauses are common in commercial contracts. Some employment agreements and user agreements (the online contracts that consumers never read before clicking “I agree”) also contain arbitration clauses.  Arbitration has been promoted as a cost-effective alternative to courtroom litigation. That may or may not be true. The filing fee to start an arbitration can be […]

What Fees Can Expert Witnesses Charge?

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On occasion, expert witnesses agree to work for free. Dr. Martin Tobin, a lung and critical care specialist with more than 40 years of experience, testified that George Floyd died due to a lack of oxygen after Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck. Tobin has been compensated for his expert testimony in several civil cases, […]

What Is the Difference Between a Retained and Non-Retained Expert Witness?

Courts and rule-makers have categorized expert witnesses in ways that can be confusing. Placing an expert witness into the correct category can make the difference between a lawyer’s ability to use an expert at trial and a judge’s decision to exclude the expert’s testimony. Differing terminology used by state and federal courts contributes to the […]

Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Hospital Executive as Expert Witness

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The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that a hospital executive who does not directly oversee treating physicians does not meet the requirements to testify as an expert witness in a medical malpractice suit. Trial Court Mark Johnson, Glenda Johnson, and Gary Johnson filed a medical malpractice suit on behalf of their brother, David Johnson. The […]