Expert Witness Blog

Pathology expert witness Dr. Janice Ophoven testified Tuesday in the trial of Amy Dierks, the Sioux Falls day care provider accused of shaking a six-month-old child into a coma-like state in November 2007. In reviewing the Baby Henry Johnson case, she told jurors she doesn't believe Dierks abused the child; rather Ophoven believes he had a stroke and seizures. The expert witness told the jury she reviewed Henry Johnson's medical records and reports and believes the child showed preexisting symptoms and conditions before he was hospitalized. She went on to say he showed no signs of trauma or abuse.

"The child was having a stroke with signs and symptoms that appeared a week earlier,” Dr. Ophoven said. Prosecutors recalled Dr. Ed Mailloux to the stand, who disagreed with many of Dr. Ophoven's statements and stood by Baby Henry's head trauma diagnosis. The prosecution plans to call one more rebuttal witness Wednesday morning before closing statements and the case is turned over to the jury.

Excerpted from Keloland.com.

Former Qwest (NYSE: Q) CEO Joe Nacchio, now residing in a Pennsylvania prison camp, has received the news that the US Supreme Court may be considering a review of his conviction on insider-trading charges...The high court has requested the entire record from Nacchio's earlier trials and appeals -- a move his attorneys said signaled that the court could be leaning toward a formal review of his case.

Nacchio's appeal is primarily based on two issues. First, he complained that the trial judge in a Denver Federal District Court improperly kept a securities expert witness from testifying on Nacchio's behalf on matters involving the National Security Agency. Second, Nacchio is contesting insider trading charges leveled against him that involved predictions of future financial results. Nacchio is the last of the 1990s telecommunications executives to be indicted on illegal insider trading charges. He was sentenced to six years in prison earlier this year.

Excerpted from InformationWeek.com.

In Challenges in Recovering Deleted Email, electronic discovery expert witness Steve Burgess writes:

There are three main types of email in common usage – Microsoft Outlook (often paired with a Microsoft Exchange Server), text-based email client programs, and web-based email, or webmail.

In Microsoft Outlook, all emails are kept in one large, encrypted, non-text file - the PST, or Personal Folders file. Outlook has additional functions and additional content as well. There is an integrated address book, multiple mailboxes, a calendar, and a scheduler, all of which are contained in the PST file. When one looks into a PST file with a file editor or word processing application, there is little or nothing intelligible to the human eye. The file content looks like nearly random characters.

In general, the PST file must be loaded into Outlook to be read. When an email is deleted, or even when it is purged, it may be kept within the body of the single large file, but become inaccessible to the program. Some deleted emails may be recovered by manipulating the file though a manual process, repairing the resultant file, and then loading back into Outlook.

Trust and estates expert witness Mina N. Sirkin says it is likely that the nomination of guardian by Michael Jackson relating to the two children he had with his ex-wife, Debbie Rowe may fail because the court did not make the special findings necessary to terminate her paternal rights. Therefore, under California law, Rowe as the mother of those two children will have priority over any nominated "guardian of the person" by Michael Jackson. However, Debbie can't expect the same results when it comes to guardianship of the estate of the minors. FoxBusinessNews.com reports:

The Jackson case is a perfect example of when guardianship nominations can go bad. Parents who name guardians of the person who were married to the parent of the minors can't expect their intended results, unless the other parent has actually consented to the nomination in writing in California....

Any and all of Jackson's life insurances are at risk at this point, even if he created irrevocable life insurance trusts for his minor kids naming those children as beneficiaries. Sirkin continues to say that large policies are subject to many exclusions and the facts of death of Jackson, along with the coroner's findings, will greatly impact whether those insurance will be paid.

Investigators in Michael Jackson's sudden death have turned their focus towards the prescription drugs that the pop legend had been taking and a mysterious doctor who was with him when he went into cardiac arrest. Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Unit reportedly were seeking to question a doctor who was in the late entertainer’s Holmby Hills' mansion Thursday, when his heart stopped.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist with offices in Las Vegas and Houston, was identified by a Jackson advisor as the 50-year-old singer's personal medical expert for three years. Murray was hired by organizers to assure Jacko’s health during the comeback concert series that had been planned for next month at the O2 arena in London. Murray reportedly witnessed Jackson's collapse and went off radar shortly after Jackson was pronounced dead.

A spokesman for the LAPD said that investigators had spoken to Murray briefly Thursday but they intended to speak to him again. It is reported that Murray was performing CPR when paramedics arrived at Jackson's house Thursday.

Excerpted from TheMoneyTimes.com.

Forensic engineering expert witness Andrew Yarmus writes that on May 12, 2009, the Epoch Times reported that newly announced NYC legislation will enhance safety protocols, oversight, and inter-agency communication at construction, demolition, and abatement site across the city. The new legislation incorporates 33 recommendations to enhance standpipe and sprinkler safety, improve inter-agency communication, increase safety at construction and demolition sites, regulate oversight, and improve safety of asbestos abatement. From TheEpochTimes.com:

The new legislation includes 11 bills that include the following measures:

• Implementation of the uniform color coding of standpipe and sprinkler systems for ease of identification in case of emergency;
• Required pressure testing of new or altered sprinkler or standpipe systems;
• Site safety managers mandate to conduct daily checks of standpipes and weekly tracing of the system at construction and demolition sites to ensure no breach has occurred;
• DEP, FDNY and DOB mandate to share information about violations issued and other key inspection data so that inspectors from all three agencies are aware of any serious problems and have the knowledge to allocate sufficient resources to the properties with the highest risks;
• Mandatory submission of a detailed plan for demolition by a registered design professional in the permit application process;
• Implementation of a zero-tolerance smoking policy at certain demolition, construction and abatement sites;
• Limiting simultaneous asbestos abatement and full demolition work unless the job meets certain thresholds established by DEP, FDNY and DOB;

Sexual abuse expert witnesses Professor Vanessa Munro of The University of Nottingham and Dr Louise Ellison of the University of Leeds found jurors have a poor understanding of the various ways in which women might react when raped, the levels and types of injuries they might sustain and the different behaviors they might display in the witness box.

The researchers, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, set up mock court cases to examine how jurors reacted to different pieces of evidence and how these were then discussed in the jury room.

In particular, they found that many jurors expect rape victims to:

* Fight back against their attacker;
* Sustain serious physical injuries;
* Report the offence immediately;
* Appear tearful and distressed when recounting their experiences in court.

In reality, many rape victims offer no physical resistance, many suffer no injury, many delay reporting rapes for significant periods and many react to rape by exhibiting extreme calm — often as a strategy to help them cope. The research shows that each of these reactions, in challenging the assumptions of jurors, can work against rape complainants when they appear in court — and may be one factor which contributes to the low conviction rate of 6.5 per cent in reported rape cases.

Excerpted from PhysOrg.com.

Army Corps of Engineers officials said Tuesday that water is flowing through the 48-year-old Howard Hanson Dam's right abutment "very fast" and may mean the earth-and-rock structure could erode if too much water is stored behind the dam. By November the Corps will install a "grout curtain" to reduce seepage and will drill more vertical and horizontal drains 32 miles upstream from Auburn, WA, at a cost of over $20 million.

Planning will then begin on a permanent solution, which is likely several years away. Hydrology and dam safety experts from around the country are advising the Corps on those interim measures and possible long-term solutions. The speed at which water is seeping through a flank of the Howard Hanson Dam has, by one key measure, increased since January, and the people who operate the dam don't know why.

Excerpted from TheSeattleTimes.com.

Justin Grodin was found guilty Wednesday of killing his 11-month-old step daughter Gretchen in 2000. Grodin had been in and out of court over the last nine years over his competency and mental state. Psychiatry expert witness Dr. Frederick Schaerf of Fort Meyers testified for the defense Tuesday regarding Grodin's "mental illness" but the jury didn't buy it.

Grodin had multiple outbursts and showed strange behavior in court over the last two weeks but the judge declared Grodin fit for trial. Medical expert witness Doctor Frederick Scharef saw Grodin 8 times since 2003 and said there is no doubt that at times Grodin is malingering or faking.

Excerpted from WinkNews.com.

Wayne and Cathy Makowski testified in their wrongful death suit against Brickman Management Co., the McDonald's franchisee, and B & B Cash Grocery Stores, the owner of the U.S. 41 shopping center that is home to the restaurant. The lawsuit alleges the businesses failed to provide adequate security to keep their son Anthony, 21, safe in the early morning brawl at a McDonald's in Land O'Lakes.

The security expert witness for the plaintiffs said last week that incidents like parking lot fights have a probability of escalating into something worse and the restaurant should have had something in place, such as a security guard, to deter them. An expert for the defense countered Monday that alcohol-fueled fights between strangers that result in a death are rare, thus impossible to foresee and prepare for. Gregg McCrary, a former FBI agent, said the shopping center was not an area known for violent crime — only for late-night nuisances — and that restaurant employees responded appropriately when the fight broke out.

Excerpted from TampaBay.com.

The Nebraska Supreme Court issued a decision Friday upholding Edward Poindexter’s conviction in the 1971 killing of police officer Larry Minard Sr. The Omaha police officer responded to a call for help at a vacant house and was killed when a suitcase found at the house, and rigged with a bomb, exploded.

The state Supreme Court found no merit in Poindexter’s claims of misconduct by prosecutors, ineffective defense and errors made during his trial. Poindexter alleged his defense attorneys were ineffective in their cross examination of witnesses, did not inquire about missing police reports, and did not offer evidence discrediting expert witnesses or evidence concerning a 911 tape recording. The court also rejected Poindexter’s arguments.

Excerpted from JournalStar.com.

In Managing the Risky Business of Company E-mail Part1 internet expert witness Scott Greene, CEO of Evidence Solutions, Inc., writes that his company has documented, during the examination of electronic systems, employees who frequently say/save things into e-mails or store on a computer, things they would never say anywhere else.

As an owner/supervisor, take a moment to examine your current IT or company’s technology policy. If your company doesn’t currently have an IT or technology policy-get one! While you will need to insure the individual needs of your company are met, following are some topics of what you should consider including in your usage polices:

Electronic information ownership
Monitoring of technology use
Acceptable use of company technology
Acceptable content

If you currently hold meetings with your employees or publish a company newsletter, these are excellent venues to use to educate your employees. Utilize these opportunities to let them know there are certain things they should be aware of when sending or responding to e-mails. Employees should be counseled to be cautious and to not make statements that can be considered a legal conclusion. Let your employees know they should utilize the knowledge and expertise within the company by picking up the phone and calling their supervisor or Human Resource Department.