New Mexico Court Rules that Experts May Not Testify About a Defendant’s Intent

New Mexico Justice

The New Mexico Supreme Court recently weighed in on an issue that will continue to be raised as scientists gain new knowledge about the impact of genetics on self-control. In State v. Yepez, the court held that a particular genome associated with violent behavior in victims of an abusive childhood cannot be the subject of […]

Colorado AG Warns Requiring Experts to Testify Could Prevent Reporting

A judge

The Colorado Attorney General has warned that requiring a state agency to testify as experts in a criminal case may have an adverse effect on its ability to gather important information. The Avalanche On March 25, 2020, an avalanche buried a service road above the west portal of the Johnson Eisenhower Memorial Tunnels near Denver, […]

Forensic Doctor Testifies That Flawed Evidence Led to Capital Murder Conviction

Criminal Forensics, word cloud concept 11

A forensic doctor has testified that the science used in the capital murder conviction of Robert Leslie Roberson III was flawed. The Death In February 2002, two-year-old Nikki Curtis was taken to a Dallas hospital. She died of blunt force injuries to the head. Curtis’ father, Robert Leslie Roberson III, said that she died after […]

Expert Cannot Base Pain and Suffering Opinion on Lay Testimony

Pennsylvania Justice

Experts offer valuable opinions during trials, but their opinions must be based on their expertise. In an unpublished decision, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that an expert’s opinion that a deceased man suffered before he died was inadmissible because it was based on the testimony of another witness. Facts of the Case James Cowher […]

Experts Examine Cause of Tiger Woods’ Crash

Police Expert Witness

Forensic car accident experts have offered theories on how the recent car crash involving famed golfer Tiger Woods took place. The Accident Tiger Woods, 45, was traveling north outside of Los Angeles when his 2021 Genesis SV80 SUV left its lane, crossed the median into the southbound lane, went off the road, hit a tree, […]

Chancery Court Decides that Expert Reports Are Not Hearsay

Gang

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. is an American company that makes satellite ground stations. It had planned to merge with an Israeli company, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., that makes in-flight entertainment systems. Comtech called off the merger after the pandemic caused a sharp loss in Gilat’s revenues. Gilat took issue with Comtech’s claim that the merger agreement […]

Expert Witness Testimony Frees Woman Unjustly Convicted of Murder

Court Dismisses Expert Witness Lawsuit Against Professional Association

Last year, ExpertPages called attention to the difference that expert witnesses might have made in the prosecution of Rosa Jimenez. Prosecutors in Travis County, Texas claimed that Jimenez caused the death of a child by stuffing paper towels down his throat. No witness saw Jimenez place paper towels in the child’s mouth, but medical experts […]

Forensic Experts Continue to Question Kevin Cooper Conviction

DNA

The murders of Doug and Peggy Ryen and two children in Chino Hills, California, were horrific. They were attacked with a hatchet, an ice pick, and one or two knives. A third child was stabbed but survived the brutal assault. Josh Ryen told the police that three white men had committed the crime. But Josh […]