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.…
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…
University of Missouri-Columbia law professor Phillip G. Peters, who examined 17 years of medical malpractice cases, is about to publish his findings in a law review article entitled “Doctors & Juries.” In it, he looked at various studies where independent expert witnesses reviewed cases. He found that juries agree with…
Dr. Andreas A. Theodorou, a pediatric expert witness, testified that the 2005 death of a 16-month-old child likely stemmed from a deliberate violent injury. Emily Mays died in Aug. 24, 2005, while in foster care. Her injuries included a subdural hematoma, or bleeding on the brain. The foster parents told…
The Indiana Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments last week on whether state courts should be required to pay for translators to assist defendants who do not understand English. This brings up an interesting debate as to whether state courts should be required to pay for expert witness fees…
Expert witness should conduct necessary tests and investigation, and not just rely on others or risk being excluded. In Mitchell v. Gencorp, Inc., 165 F.3d 778, 779 (10th Cir. 1999), the plaintiff contended he had developed leukemia from regularly working in an unventilated room where hazardous materials were stored. The…
It is commonly understood that despite the fact that one party retained and paid for the services of an expert witnesses, experts are supposed to testify impartially in the sphere of their expertise. See Selvidge v. U.S. 160 F.R.D. 153. However, the court in Wilson v. City of Chicago stated…
Prosecutors in the Phil Spector murder case filed a motion requesting the defense team be ordered to disclose the fees that Spector’s 13 expert witnesses are being paid before they take the stand in the music producer’s trial. In papers filed with the court, prosecutors claimed they had previously asked…
Many argue that the Daubert reliability test is important because expert witness testimony is uniquely vulnerable to bias. Those in this camp argue expert witnesses differ from lay witnesses, because experts are retained to advance the cause of one party in an adversarial proceeding. Courts have consistently reiterated than expert…
Viewing jail visitor lists is a common practice among prosecuting attorneys. But what happens when defense counsel asks an expert witness to visit a prisoner? Should that information be privileged? Courts have disagreed. In California, one court denied the public defenders’ request to keep prosecutors from knowing which defense experts…