Expert Witnesses Debate Lord of the Rings Character Gollum in Turkish Criminal Trial

The Washington Post reports on a trial for a doctor in Turkey which provides an interesting use of expert witnesses by asking five experts to discuss the nature of the character Gollum.  The case arose when the defendant shared an internet meme comparing the Turkish president to the creature, potentially committing the crime of insulting […]

Accident Reconstruction Experts Testify in Wrongful Death Trial

Accident reconstruction experts who testified in a wrongful death trial provided differing opinions about responsibility for a 2012 traffic accident that claimed the life of an 84-year-old man in Anniston, Alabama. A lawsuit filed by William Curry’s estate claimed that a speeding police officer negligently caused the crash. Attorneys for the city argued that the […]

Experts Are Key to Animal Cruelty Charges Against Terrence Cody

Terrence Cody, the former nose tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, is facing animal cruelty charges in Baltimore County. The Ravens released Cody from his contract on the day he was indicted by a grand jury. Expert witnesses will play a key role in establishing that Cody’s Canary Mastiff starved to death. The defense is unlikely […]

Technology Used by DNA Expert Witnesses Faces Scrutiny from Defense Attorneys

Law-enforcement and defense attorneys in Pennsylvania have engaged in a legal battle over technology used by DNA expert witnesses to narrow down suspects and identify criminal defendants.  Use of a computer program which unravels DNA inter-mixed at crime scenes has been disputed by defense lawyers who do not have access to its programming source code. […]

Facebook Killer Trial in Florida Features Expert Witness Testimony

The trial of the “Facebook killer” in Miami, Florida has turned to expert witnesses on both sides who will argue over questions about forensic evidence and the defendant’s mental state at the time of the crime.  The case, which gained national attention due to a graphic Facebook image posted by the killer, will likely turn […]

Are Disputed Expert Opinions Sufficient Proof of Fraud Under the False Claims Act?

A federal judge in the Northern District of Alabama has ruled that a difference of opinion among medical experts is not sufficient to prove that a healthcare provider filed false claims for Medicare payments. If that decision is adopted by other courts or affirmed on appeal, the government’s ability to bring false claim lawsuits that […]

Expert Opinions Conflict in Benzene Exposure Claim

Last year, a worker’s compensation court in Louisiana rejected a worker’s claim that exposure to benzene caused him to suffer from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Louisiana Court of Appeal recently affirmed that decision. A key issue on appeal was whether the worker’s compensation court gave due attention to the conflicting opinions of expert witnesses. The Benzene […]

Four Qualities That Made Ben Carson an Effective Expert Witness

Donald Trump may have celebrity status, but Ben Carson is the current frontrunner in a poll of GOP primary voters. The reasons that underlie his popularity as a presidential candidate, including the ability to gain the trust of his audience, also explain Dr. Carson’s success as an expert witness. Before he began to campaign as […]