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David Tuffin of the firm Tuffin, Ferraby, & Taylor writes In my expert opinion: How to pick an expert witness

Expert witnesses can make or break a case, so it’s vital to pick exactly the right (independent, knowledgeable and impressive) person for the job. With the construction industry seeing a significant rise in litigation and conflict there is going to be an increase in demand for reliable expert witnesses called in by lawyers to either help defend or support their clients’ cases.

The biggest challenge facing those selecting an expert witness is how to ensure that the person they call upon is going to help and not hinder the case. Often the evidence the expert provides can make or break a case and therefore choosing the right person is of utmost importance.

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A Maryland state psychiatry expert witness believes Victoria Adele Sparrow knew what she was doing was wrong and is therefore guilty of first-degree murder when she poisoned her 3-year-old daughter and then tried to kill herself. Psychiatric experts – one employed by the state and the other hired by the defense – are set to testify on July 20 in Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court in Centreville. They will be the only witnesses, attorneys said. Sparrow, 43, waived her right to a jury trial Tuesday and agreed to let Judge Thomas G. Ross determine if she was “criminally responsible” for her actions inside her home on Dec. 18.

Defense attorney Peter S. O’Neill filed a motion earlier this year claiming his client was not fit to stand trial. He hired a medical expert who determined that Sparrow would be able to assist in her defense. That expert, however, did not believe Sparrow was sane at the time of the killing. Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Lance Richardson said a state psychiatrist does not agree with the defense’s medical expert.

Excerpted from HometownAnnapolis.com.

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On Wednesday, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge threw out a $2 million judgment that a 19th Judicial District Court jury had awarded former UL football coach Jerry Baldwin in 2007. In that case, Baldwin claimed racial discrimination by the university, the UL Board of Supervisors and former athletic director Nelson Schexnayder for his firing after the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 2001 season.

Baldwin claimed breach of contract, discrimination and emotional distress, and the racially-balanced jury – six white, six black – voted 10-2 to award Baldwin $500,000 for general damages and emotional distress, $600,000 for lost wages and $900,000 for future lost wages. The jury heard from the plaintiff’s sports expert witness who said Baldwin’s firing cost him the chance to coach professionally in the NFL, and hence the $900,000 award for future lost wages.

Excerpted from NewOrleans.com.

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Obstetrics expert witness Dr. Robert Winston says women who freeze their eggs to delay motherhood are being given false hope by some fertility clinics. Winston says there is no guarantee and he believes that some clinics that offer services for healthy women to freeze eggs – at a cost of thousands of dollars – are guilty of an “expensive confidence trick”.

Winston says there is no guarantee that women would go on to have children or that any babies they did conceive would be completely healthy. CourierMail.com reports:

An increasing number of IVF clinics are now offering to harvest and freeze eggs – at a cost of about $10,000 a time – for healthy women. The expert has warned of the dangers of expensive and unreliable fertility treatments and has called for a curb on clinics offering freezing for non-medical reasons until more research is carried out.

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The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on James P. Chasse Jr. after he died in police custody says Chasse suffered 46 separate abrasions or contusions on his body, including six to the head and 19 strikes to the torso. Chasse, 42, who suffered from schizophrenia, died in police custody on Sept. 17, 2006. Two Portland officers, Officer Christopher Humphreys and Sgt. Kyle Nice, and then-Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy Bret Burton struggled to arrest Chasse after one of the officers said he appeared to be urinating on a city street. Police said he ran when they approached. They chased him, knocked him to the ground and struggled to handcuff him.

The medical expert witness said fractures to Chasse’s rear ribs also likely did not result from Chasse getting knocked to the ground or someone falling on top of him, but more likely resulted from a kick or knee-drop. Police procedures expert witness Lou Reiter, a retired Los Angeles police deputy chief hired by Chasse’s family, said in a statement filed in court that the officers used excessive force through “impact strikes,” kicking and using their knees once Chasse was on the ground.

Excerpted from OregonLive.com.

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The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act was signed into law in December 2007, giving owners of public pools until December 2008 to comply with the new pool drain safety requirements. This law applies to all pre-existing public and semi-public pools and to any new pools (public or private) built after December 2008. Pool expert David Morrill, President of Pool Resolution Consulting, Inc., says “Even a very small filter pump can create sufficient suction power to trap a person underwater or cause fatal injuries . At the very least hotel and apartment management should immediately install temporary fixes so a tragic accident does not occur at your AAA destination.”

If you currently have a non-compliant drain system in your public or semi-public pool or spa, the law applies. All commercial, public or semi-public pools are required to install approved two drain systems with covers that qualify under ANSI/ASME A112.19.8-2007 code or comply using other approved alternates such as:

* Install an approved “unblockable” channel drain * Disable the drain, or convert it from a suction line to a pool return * Install a Safety Vacuum Release System

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.