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According to aviation expert witness Robert Lemieux, Mark Tayfel, a pilot who crash-landed a twin-engine plane on a busy road after running out of fuel should be commended, not treated as a criminal. According to the Canadian Press, Tayfel is charged with criminal negligence causing death, four counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and dangerous operation of an aircraft. Tayfel and five passengers survived with various injuries, while an elderly U.S. fisherman died several weeks later in hospital.

“Most people walked away from that accident. He did his job until the bitter end,” said Lemieux.

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Police procedure expert Penny Harrington, who was Portland’s police chief for 18 months in the mid-1980s, will testify as an expert witness in a sexual harassment case involving a fire department. Four women have alleged that they were subjected to sexual comments from their supervisor. Harrington has reviewed depositions from the case and concluded the four women were treated differently because of their sex.

The defense has pointed out that Penny Harrington has never worked for a fire department and has never been called as an expert witness in a lawsuit involving a fire department, he said.

The case began on May 2, 2007 in Oregon’s Clark County Superior Court, and is expected to last five weeks.

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Psychology expert witness Mike Maynard will testify regarding the effect of convicted murderer Blaine Ross during the penalty phase of his trial. Blaine Ross was convicted in Bradenton, Florida, of killing his parents in 2004. Also scheduled to testify is Dr. Frank Wood, of Wake Forest University, an expert witness in schizophrenia.

The same jurors who convicted Ross of killing his parents are now deciding whether to recommend he get life in prison or the death penalty. The final decision rests with the judge.

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Famed forensic expert witness Henry Lee’s television interview could result in sanctions against Phil Spector’s defense in Spector’s murder trial. The Associated Press is reporting that prosecutors are now seeking sanctions, which could range from barring Lee’s testimony, to advising the jury of a failure to disclose evidence in a timely manner.

Henry Lee, made famous as an expert witness in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, disclosed in an interview on Court TV an unusual theory that blood spatter could travel 72 inches. The interview came on the eve of a defense opening statement that utilized the same information. The prosecution states it was unaware of the defense theory until Lee was interviewed on Court TV.

The blood splatter distance is important is establishing how far Spector was from the victim at the time of her death. Prosecutors claim that the music producer shot actress Lana Clarkson, while the defense asserts she shot herself.

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Defendant Marie Lindor, who was sued by the Recording Industry for allegedly infringing on their exclusive rights by downloading, distributing and/or making available for distribution certain sound recordings using an online media distribution system, has moved to exclude the trial testimony of the RIAA’s security expert witness, Dr. Doug Jacobson. Ms. Lindor argues that the expert witness‘ deposition testimony establishes that his trial testimony could not meet the standards for reliability of expert testimony prescribed by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U. S. 579 (1993) and Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

The interesting letter brief can be read in its entirety here: letter brief

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Bus expert witness Charles Scalia, owner of Scalia Safety Engineering of Madison, testified that the 78-year-old driver of a bus that slammed into an overturned semitrailer truck, killing five people 18 months ago, had plenty of time to stop if his recognition of the hazard and reaction time were normal.

According to the Winona Daily News, Scalia testified:

Normal reaction time for a driver seeing a hazard is 1.6 seconds, including time to perceive a problem, consider a course of action and start the reaction, Scalia said. The vehicle response time is typically .3 seconds, he said, making for a total reaction time of 1.9 seconds.

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Patience in Educational Marketing
Like all marketing, writing an expert witness article is not an instant gratifier. Although it has happened, do not expect your phone to immediately start ringing once your article appears. Writing an article does trigger the law of reciprocity. If you give the attorney something of value, the attorney will want to give you a call when the need arises. Your investment of your time to create a well-written article may pay off in a lucrative case retention.

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Your expert witness article should be geared to the attorney who would possibly hire you. In writing for your target market, remember, attorneys are generally impatient, and want usable information that is easy to digest. Therefore, the scope of the article should be narrow with a clear focus, written in a straightforward and clear manner. The style should be as non-technical as possible. Short paragraphs and sentences are usually preferred. Short subheads should be used to break the copy in longer articles.

Prior to submission, have someone competent proof read your article. No matter how much knowledge you have, the article will be rejected if it is poorly written. Indeed, if writing is not your forte’, consider having a co-writer (or even a ghost writer) help to convey your knowledge about the subject matter.

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Prior to submitting your expert witness article, learn what types of articles are generally accepted by editor. Request a copy of the publication be sent to you, and read the articles that were previously published. You might want to call and speak to the editor directly before submitting your article. Ask the editor what he or she looks for when reviewing submitted articles. This will aid in writing your article in a format and style that is most acceptable to the editor.

Know the formatting guidelines for submission. Many bar association’s websites contain detailed format guidelines for articles. For example, the Texas Bar Journal requires all articles be double spaced. In contrast, The Wyoming Lawyer wants single spaced articles using 12-point Times font. Some publications want the articles submitted on paper – others request it electronically. A few minutes of research will prevent your article from being rejected for formatting reasons.