Expert Witness Blog

Entomologist expert witness Lynn Kimsey identified evidence on a car radiator and air filter in the mass-murder trial of Vincent Brothers. Kimsey was asked by two FBI agents and a Bakersfield police detective to identify insect specimens and their origin as evidence in the multiple-murder case. In July 2003, Brothers allegedly flew from Bakersfield to Ohio and drove a rental car back to Bakersfield in order to kill his estranged wife, their three children and his mother-in-law.

The California Aggie reports that Brothers’ defense team called four expert witnesses of their own, three from Purdue University and one from Illinois, to counter Kimsey. They claimed that insects are easily distributed, attempting to cast doubt on the prosecution’s theory that Brothers drove to California.

In Dennis Reedy v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36539, the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied the parties’ cross-motions to exclude the testimony of liability expert witnesses. Plaintiff Reedy claims negligence against the defendant CSX for injuries sustained on his job at Keystone Iron & Metal Co.

The plaintiff attacked defense expert witness Mr. Daum’s reliance on his inspection of the rail car in November 2006 because it was over one year after the accident. The defense attacked the plaintiff’s mechanical failure expert witness, Mr. Tucker arguing that he “failed to employ any scientific or technical method or procedure” in support of his opinions.

On May 18, 2007, the court decided:

The parties’ cross-Motions to exclude the testimony of liability experts (Docs. 15 & 17) are DENIED, consistent with the analyses in the above Opinion. In addition, the Defendant may submit, within eleven (11) days of the date of this Order, the affidavit of an appropriate CSX representative stating on personal knowledge that, if repairs were made to the Rail Car’s handbrake housing, they would be reflected in the AAR-CRB History or some other existing documentation.

The US District Court for the District of South Carolina denied both motions filed by manufacturer Metalcraft in a products liability action. The summary judgment motion as well as the motion to exclude the testimony of an opposing products liability expert witness were denied. In Kevin Neil Flynn vs. Metalcraft of Mayville, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36380, Flynn brought a products liability action for injuries he sustained when he was mowing using a Scag Hydrostatic Walk-Behind Mower (“mower”) manufactured by Metalcraft. Flynn alleges that on July 19, 2003, he was using the mower when he lost control and the mower turned on him, causing injuries to his left ankle and right foot from the blade.

Flynn asserted causes of action based on strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. Metalcraft filed a summary judgment motion and a motion to exclude the expert witness testimony of Lynn Burkholder, the plaintiff’s liability expert witness. Metalcraft contended that (1) the testimony of Lynn Burkholder, the Plaintiff’s liability expert, must be excluded; (2) the doctrine of spoiliation requires dismissal of this case; and (3) the Plaintiff’s comparative negligence exceeds fifty percent.

The court denied Metalcraft’s motion for summary judgment as well as Metalcraft’s motion in limine to exclude Burkholder’s testimony.

Rhode Island won a landmark lawsuit against former manufacturers of lead paint but the two sides cannot agree on how to clean up the contaminated properties. Sherwin-Williams, Millennium Holdings LLC, and NL Industries, Inc., were found liable for “creating a public nuisance by manufacturing and selling a toxic product” which could them cost billions of dollars. They would like to call expert witnesses in an appeal according to the Boston.com . The companies say they need “more evidence and information before any work can begin.” They have appealed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court in order to conduct further hearings and cross-examine lead paint expert witnesses.

British aviation expert witness Rodney Wallis testified in the Air India inquiry that he’s concerned about the U.S. practice of having security officers with guns aboard flights. Expert witness Wallis consults for the International Civil Aviation Organization and warns that bullets could hit passengers or pierce the aircraft skin causing cabin decompression resulting in a crash.

“There is no place for a weapon of any sort in the cabin of an airplane.”

Armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police do ride some Canadian commercial airliners, mostly on routes to Washington, D.C., to comply with U.S. requirements reports CBCNews.ca.

Judge Martin E. Smith told prosecutors they must try to bring expert witness Dr. Henry Lee from Italy to Owego, NY, in order for him to offer live testimony in the second-degree murder trial of Calvin Harris. DNA analysis expert witness Lee is expected to testify that tiny amounts of blood found in the house of Calvin Harris more than five years ago is that of his estranged wife, Michele Harris, who disappeared in 2001.

Lee had already testified in the Harris case via videotape but the May 23 California ruling that Lee hid evidence in Phil Spector’s murder trial could mean that the expert’s videotaped testimony will be thrown out. Defense attorneys are expected to call into question Lee’s credibility before the Harris jury according to PressConnects.com.

Defense attorneys tried to discredit the expert witness testifying in the manslaughter trial of a former Pasadena school bus driver who ran over and killed a 9-year-old girl in August 2005.

Attorneys Schneider and Fickman questioned school bus expert witness Carlisle Beasley who testified that there are no blind spots on a school bus if a driver has properly adjusted mirrors and is “doing his job.” Pictures from the day of the incident showed the mirrors “aren’t properly adjusted,” said Ms. Beasley, who worked for 34 years as the transportation director for Nashville schools as reported in the Houston Chronical.com.

A federal judge has ordered a third trial in a lawsuit by a woman who blamed Merck & Co.’s painkiller Vioxx for the heart attack that killed her husband. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon ruled that the cardiology expert witness who testified for Merck misrepresented his qualifications in the second trial last year. Jurors ruled in favor of Merck and against Evelyn Irvin Plunkett, whose first husband, Richard Irvin, died of a heart attack after taking Vioxx for less than a month.

Expert witness Dr. Barry Rayburn, a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, testified in Plunkett’s second trial that the drug could not have caused Irvin’s heart attack. When he was brought to the stand, he was asked whether he was board-certified. His answer was, “Yes, I passed boards in internal medicine and in cardiovascular disease” but his certification had lapsed at the time. Rayburn then passed the board examinations for recertification in 2006, reports Forbes.com.

Former media baron Conrad Black and other former executives of Hollinger International are charged with defrauding the company of $84 million through non-competition payments. Last week the prosecution focused on charges against Black alone regarding obstruction of justice and his opulent New York apartment.

Federal prosecutor Edward Sisko brought in real estate appraisal expert witness John Miller, of consulting firm Miller Samuel Inc. Expert witness Miller testified that Black’s apartment at 635 Park Ave. had a fair market value of $5.2 million and not the $3 million that Black paid for it.

The prosecution also showed security footage with Black and his chauffer carrying 13 mysterious boxes out the back door to his car from Hollinger’s Toronto office. The SEC had ordered that no documents could be removed without approval by an inspector according to Medhill Reports.