Appraisal and Valuation Expert Witnesses Have Bad Day in Court

Two expert witnesses in Louisville, KY had a bad day in court this week. First, antique weapon expert witness R.L. Wilson, along with Michael Salisbury, and Karen Salisbury, were charged with conspiring to defraud Owsley Brown Frazier and his International History Museum by taking commissions and kickbacks totaling $1.75 million.

Second, appraisal & valuation expert witness C.W. Slagle was forced to admit on Friday that he had fabricated part of his resume and admitted that he had falsely described himself as a University of Illinois graduate in civil engineering. Courier-journal.com also reports:

In response to questioning, Slagle claimed he attended the university though he didn’t finish — but an attorney for one of the defendants showed the jury letters from the university saying there was no record that he’d ever enrolled…. Slagle, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was hired to appraise weapons in September 2002, after museum officials began to suspect that Wilson may have inflated his valuations.