The Trans Canada Keystone Pipeline plans to run 220 miles through South Dakota in its Alberta-to-Illinois route. Heidi Tillquist, an environmental expert witness with ENSD of Fort Collins, CO, says chances of a spill along South Dakota’s part of the line are no more than once in 41 years. The…
The National Lung Screening Trial is tracking 50,000 smokers over nine years at a cost of $200 million. Funded by the National Cancer Institute, the study is expected to have a major impact on whether regular CT scans for smokers will become a standard of care and whether tobacco companies…
W.R. Grace & Co. will fight the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that restored criminal charges of “knowing endangerment” in the case against the chemical manufacturer and its top managers. The appellate court also reversed decisions that would have narrowed the definition of asbestos and limited the materials…
John A. Zortman, charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Sept. 2, 2006, beating-death of his landlord, was granted his sixth continuence last week. Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brownfield granted the continuence so that Zortman’s attorney would have time to acquire a crime scene…
After two days of testimony, a Duluth, Minnesota, jury found that Jammie Thomas was liable for infringing Capitol Records copyrights on all 24 of the 24 recordings at issue. The jury awarded $222,000 in statutory damages after finding that the infringement was “willful.” RIAA’s expert witness, Dr. Doug Jacobson, examined…
Animal expert witness Greg Kaufman, President of the Pacific Whale Foundation, testified this week in a court hearing on on behalf of three environmental groups. The groups are seeking an injunction against the Superferry to stop operations during an environmental study. The StarBulletin writes: As an expert witness, Kaufman has…
Motor vehicle crash injury expert witness Michael Freeman testified Tuesday that assumptions in an Allstate claims handling manual about how much force passengers endure in low-speed wrecks have no scientific basis. “These numbers are impossible, and they are just made up,” said Freeman, an epidemiologist at Oregon Health and Science…
In Exoneration Using DNA Brings Change in Legal System, New York Times Solomon Moore discusses how misidentification by witnesses has led to wrongful convictions and how that is changing with DNA evidence. Lt. Kenneth A. Patenaude, criminalistics expert witness and police commander in Northampton, Mass., states “It’s become clear that…
In Higher Benchmark For Class Actions Ameet Sachdev of the Chicago Tribune writes: Demanding more evidence of wrongdoing and scrutinizing expert witnesses may, some say, bar many consumers from access to courts. Judges are raising the bar on class-action lawsuits, demanding more evidence of the alleged wrongdoing and even holding…
LaVon Chisley, 23, a former Penn State football player from Maryland, was convicted Friday of murder in the stabbing death of former roommate Langston Carraway. Chisley was found guilty of first- and third-degree murder based on DNA evidence and expert witness testimony. The footprint expert witness testified that a pattern…