Former Federal Judge Limited in Testimony as Expert Witness

A former Federal Court Judge in Madison, Illinois was limited in the scope of the expert testimony that he could offer at trial. A Court held that some of his opinions invaded the province of the presiding judge. Factual Background The underlying case involved a fatal accident that occurred in 2005 when a vehicle carrying […]

Expert’s Credibility Challenged in Brock Turner Trial

Maintaining an appearance of objectivity is essential if an expert witness wants to be effective. When an expert appears to be an advocate for a party, the jury is less likely to regard the expert’s testimony as credible. An expert who testified about the potential effect of alcohol on an alleged sexual assault victim learned […]

Entomologists as Expert Witnesses: Establishing Time of Death

A crime scene, person taking photos for investigation

Several experts were among the nearly 100 witnesses who testified for the prosecution in the quadruple murder trial of Kyle Flack in Franklin County, Kansas. While most of the experts provided the kind of medical and forensic testimony that is common to homicide prosecutions, one witness — an entomologist — testified in a field of […]

Expert Testimony Supports Negligent Homicide Jury Verdict

After deliberating for about seven hours, a jury found a Montana man not guilty of intentionally murdering his son. Instead, the jury found James Sindelar guilty of negligent homicide in his son’s shooting death. The jury may have based its verdict on the testimony of a defense expert who explained how Sindelar could have accidentally […]

Ballistics Expert Witness Testifies in LA Grim Sleeper Trial

Conviction Reversed Because Defense Expert Not Allowed to Testify

A LAPD police ballistics expert witness defended his research methodology in the trial of Lonnie Franklin Jr., the suspected Grim Sleeper serial killer. The high profile murder trial continues into its fourth week with prosecutors calling expert witnesses to build their case against Franklin, who has been accused of carrying out 10 murders in the […]

Failure to Disclose Expert Opinions Leads to Dire Results

Expert witness opinions, perhaps even more than other evidence in a case, must usually be disclosed to the opposing party in advance of trial. In federal cases, disclosure is required by the procedural rules that govern civil and criminal trials. Most states have implemented similar disclosure requirements. When lawyers fail to disclose expert opinions in […]

[UPDATE] Hulk Hogan’s Experts Testify Against Gawker

UPDATE: The jury in Hulk Hogan’s trial evidently found his experts to be persuasive. After only six hours of deliberation, the jury awarded Hogan $115 million in damages and an additional $25 million in punitive damages. Readers might be interested in Peter Horan’s firsthand account of what it was like to serve as an expert […]

Election Experts Testify in Virginia Voter ID Case

Laws requiring voters to show photo identification before their votes can be cast or counted are both politically and legally controversial. Last year, the United States Supreme Court declined to consider a challenge to a Wisconsin law that requires voters to produce a photo ID before they are allowed to vote. The Supreme Court’s inaction […]

Former OJ Simpson Forensic Expert Witness Comments on Discovery of Possible Murder Weapon

A forensic expert witness who testified for the O.J. Simpson defense team during the sensational 1995 murder trial spoke to news outlets this week about the possibility that DNA evidence is recovered from a knife recently uncovered at Simpson’s former home. Although the former athlete and broadcaster cannot be retried for murder, DNA found on […]

Neuroscientific Evidence in the Courtroom

The increasing importance of neuroscientists as expert witnesses in death penalty hearings and other court proceedings is highlighted in a recent article in The Atlantic. The article calls attention to a Duke University study of more than 1,600 court decisions that addressed neuroscientific evidence between 2005 and 2012. According to the Duke study, neuroscientists and […]

ExpertPages Blog