Expert Witness Blog

Once you have researched and found the right expert for your case, give them the best preparation you can. This includes:

1. Make sure your expert has all the materials necessary. While this can mean giving them more than they need, it can also prevent opposing counsel from saying that the expert did not review all the materials available.

2. Review your approach to the case with your expert so that he is comfortable with the facts and your arguments.

While DUI trials are common, a trial on a charge of felony driving under the influence of drugs is rare. Palmer, AK police officer and drug-recognition expert witness Peter Steen says most defendants accept a plea agreement. Andrian Marutsheff, 40, charged with driving under the influence of a prescription sedative, decided to go to trial. The Anchorage Daily News also reports:

The problem with trials involving drivers impaired by drugs, Steen said, is that the evidence allowed into court is usually limited to toxicology reports from blood draws and officers’ observations of how impaired the driver is. Without a drug recognition expert it’s tough to knit the two pieces together, Steen said. Prosecutors could show the driver was impaired and blood tests might turn up positive for a certain drug.

Steen’s turn on the stand was the first time a drug recognition expert was certified to testify as an expert witness in Superior Court anywhere in the state, Steen said. In only one other case – a misdemeanor trial in District Court in Anchorage – did a certified drug recognition expert testify, Steen said. He hopes his testimony will set a precedent for more such testimony.

Former Detroit police officers have filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the city. The officers claim they were forced from their jobs after investigating the mayor and his personal security team. An economist expert witness testified that the mayor’s decision to remove Gary Brown as a deputy police chief cost the veteran officer over $2 million in lost wages and benefits. Kilpatrick and attorneys for the city argue that the officers retired voluntarily. The Detroit Free Press also reports:

The expert witness also testified that former mayoral bodyguard Harold Nelthrope could be out nearly $600,000. That figure includes salary Nelthrope would have received had he not retired as a police officer in 2003, as well as projected future earnings.

If the jury rules in favor of the city, the officers could receive little or no money as a result of their lawsuit.

Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the only U.S. military officer to face a court martial in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, was reprimanded after his conviction on a single charge – failing to obey an order. Jordan was cleared of all charges including the abuse of prisoners and failing to do his duty as a senior officer. The Pentagon has stated that none of the other senior officers did anything wrong. But Stjepan Mestrovic, a Texas sociologist who has testified as an expert witness at previous Abu Ghraib trials, calls the Pentagon’s strategy to blame the abuse on a few low-ranking soldiers as “magical thinking.” Time.com also reports the behavioral science expert witness stating:

‘It doesn’t make any sense,’ he says. ‘There is no way that a handful of low-ranking soldiers could have invented techniques – all by themselves – that curiously enough were used at [the U.S. Naval detention facility at] Guantanamo and at other places in Iraq and Afghanistan.’…

Jordan, the only U.S. military officer to face a court martial in the controversy, was charged with ordering dogs to be used for interrogations; cruelty and maltreatment of prisoners who were allegedly subjected to forced nudity and intimidation by dogs; dereliction of a duty to properly train and supervise soldiers in interrogation rules; and disobeying an order not to discuss the case with other witnesses. Critics have long asked why the U.S. government has charged only low-ranking soldiers with serious crimes at Abu Ghraib, and why it did not pursue charges against civilian contractors, over whom it has jurisdiction.

A cell phone forensics expert witness brought in records of text messages, photographs and short videos taken from the phone of Raul Manuel Magallanez Jr., who is on trial in Lyon County District Court. Magallanez has been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl, as well as about 60 counts of indecent liberties with minors. Expert witness Kevin Ripa is director of computer forensics for Advanced Surveillance Group Inc. in Mount Clemens, Mich., president of Computer Evidence Recovery Co., in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and regularly presents seminars internationally about cell phone and computer forensics. Ripa had recovered general records from the SIM card within the phone as well as a number of text messages, photographs and two videos. EmporiaGazette.com also reports:

One of the videos showed a long-haired blond girl apparently acting out instructions from an audible voice: “Give me a sexy look, like, ‘you’re going to do it look.'”

Bankruptcy judge Louise Adler will rule in September whether the San Diego’s Catholic Diocese can legitimately file for bankruptcy. Attorneys representing 150 people who claim they were victims say re-activating those trials is the only way to force the diocese into a settlement. Judge Adler called in financial expert witness Todd Neisen to audit the San Diego’s Catholic Diocese. The expert witness was asked to consider if parishes are independent financially and can be considered separately from the diocese assets. KPBS.com also writes that Neisen said:

His analysis of the churches’ books revealed a “financial stew” where you can separate the peas from the carrots and the potatoes, but the money is all essentially co-mingled. He compared the financial relationship of the diocese to the parishes as that of a neglectful parent who never audits the books.

Attorneys for the diocese argued no money was hidden, but even the judge disputed their claims that money was not transferred after the sex abuse lawsuits were filed.

An eight-member jury returned a verdict of not guilty for Dan L. Petersen, charged with the 1986 murder of Tiffany Hambleton, 14. Expert witness testimony was crucial to Petersen’s defense. Two forensic expert witnesses testified that in such a brutal stabbing, blood would have been everywhere. A roommate saw him come home the next day with no blood on his clothes or shoes. Another person sat next to him in a vehicle and also observed no blood. DeseretNews.com also reports:

Defense attorney Randall Skeen said the area where the girl’s body was placed was muddy that night, but there was no mud on Petersen’s shoes or his truck. Skeen also said there would not have been enough time for Petersen to take Hambleton to the place where the murder supposedly took place, kill her, cover her body with weeds, wash or change clothes, clean the truck thoroughly, make it run out of gas and then walk home.

The trial for singer R. Kelly will begin September 17 more than five years after he was charged with multiple counts of child pornography. Kelly allegedly videotaped himself having sex with a girl prosecutors say could be as young as 13. The girl denies that she’s the person on the tape and prosecutors want to call a child pornography expert witness to testify that denial is a common issue with victims of child pornography. Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan will also rule on whether an expert witness could testify that the veins in Kelly’s hand are consistent with those in the hand of the man in the video. ChronicMagazine.com also writes:

After the prosecution tried for a reversal, Judge Vincent Gaughan upheld his ruling that the media and public could view the sex tape that allegedly depicts Kelly having sex with an underage girl and is at the heart of the charges.