Randal Wagoner Freed on Bail After Experts Undermine Weak Prosecution Evidence

Florida Supreme Court

After spending 1,140 days in jail, Randal Wagoner was freed on bail, a week before he was scheduled to face trial on charges of murder and arson. The defense used expert opinions to convince the prosecutor that the state’s case, built largely on the opinions of its own experts, was weak. The prosecutor asked the […]

Perils of Hiring the Wrong Expert

Expert Witness Testimony

Finding the right expert to testify on a party’s behalf is often the key to success in bringing or defending against a legal claim. That’s particularly true when the law requires expert testimony to prove the claim. Medical malpractice, for example, can usually be established only when an expert testifies that a health care provider […]

AG Jeff Sessions Ends Obama-Era Review of Forensic Expert Techniques

Scientist using pipette in laboratory

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has put an end to an Obama-era Justice Department initiative which created a panel of independent forensic experts tasked with reviewing crime lab procedures used by the FBI and federal prosecutors. The National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS) was introduced in 2013 with the goal of ensuring forensic expert testimony from […]

Mistrial Declared After Expert Witness Assists Stricken Juror

A judge

Too often, expert witnesses are unfairly disparaged as “hired guns” or (in the words of Missouri’s Gov. Eric Greitens) “shady witnesses that act as experts while peddling junk science” — particularly when they testify on behalf of victims of corporate wrongdoing. But most experts are good people who do their best to help the legal […]

Missouri Adopts Daubert

Missouri

To large corporations, insurance companies, and their lobbyists, Missouri is a “judicial hellhole.” To consumers and injury victims, Missouri is a state where business lobbyists have not made it impossible for them to win fair compensation when they are harmed by corporate wrongdoing. Both perspectives are poised to change. Corporate lobbyists have been fierce advocates […]

Disagreement Among Experts Does Not Prove Fraud in Medical Billings

Doctor

A federal judge in Kentucky recently took the unusual step of vacating a criminal conviction based on the court’s belief that the evidence was insufficient to prove guilt. The primary evidence in the case consisted of expert testimony. The court held that mere disagreement among experts cannot support a criminal conviction for health care fraud. […]

Murder Case against Aaron Hernandez Wraps Up with Expert Testimony

Scales, law books

The high-profile criminal trial of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez is wrapping up in Boston, and prosecutors ended their case with testimony from medical and forensic expert witnesses called to connect Hernandez to a 2012 fatal shooting. Facing the daunting task of prosecuting a 5-year-old murder without substantial physical evidence linking the defendant to […]

California Appellate Court Disallows Expert Testimony in Medical Malpractice Case

Baby feet

The California Court of Appeals recently decided an appeal from a trial court ruling that excluded expert opinions in a medical malpractice case. The appellate court agreed that those opinions were not based on facts and therefore could not be considered as evidence of malpractice. Facts of the Case Baby Ngide was born at St. […]