Articles Posted in Expert Witness News

Firearms and ballistics expert witness William McBrayer testified in the Demeatrius Montgomery trial which found Montgomery guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark. The firearms and tool examiner, recently retired from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department’s crime lab, said bullets found lodged inside Sean Clark’s head and at the scene were definitely fired from a gun prosecutors say is the murder weapon.

Just before the trial concluded, defense attorney Duane Bryant announced that his client would appeal.

Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com.

Property management experts at The Lightner Property Group write:

Currently, there are a number of bills which have passed both the Senate and the Assembly which are of interest to landlords and tenants in California. The first of our three bills, AB 1800 (Hagman-Ma), is a response to the numerous scams that have arisen out of the on-line rental market and the increasing number of owners renting their own units through on-line listing services.

To avoid the scam entirely, what can a prospective renter do?

For the second time in a year, the Ninth District Court of Appeals has been tapped to decide whether or not a plaintiffs’ medical expert witness reports meet Texas Civil Code requirements. As the Southeast Texas Record previously reported, in November 2008 Ivalyn and Lee Anderson, an Orange couple, filed suit against eight doctors and three hospitals, alleging Ivalyn suffered from a stroke after doctors inserted a central line into her veins.

In 2009, several of the defendants appealed after Judge Gary Sanderson, 60th District Court, refused to toss the case on the grounds that the Andersons’ medical expert reports failed to fulfill code requirements, court records show. On Dec. 17, 2009, Ninth District justices affirmed one of the expert reports and reversed and remanded the remaining reports.

Read more: setexasrecord.com.

Property management experts at The Lightner Property Group write:

Currently, there are a number of bills which have passed both the Senate and the Assembly which are of interest to landlords and tenants in California. The first of our three bills, AB 1800 (Hagman-Ma), is a response to the numerous scams that have arisen out of the on-line rental market and the increasing number of owners renting their own units through on-line listing services.

The scam is a simple one. A scam artist advertises a housing rental on the Internet, often on Craig’s List. Often they have lifted the information from another site on the Internet, replacing only one important piece of information – the contact telephone number or email address. The deal is often too good to be true and generates a significant amount of interest and often a sense of urgency to act on the part of unsuspecting prospective renter, so as to not miss out on the “great deal”.

Mortgage fraud expert witnesses may opine on occupancy fraud, income fraud, and appraisal fraud. Here, Rachel Dollar, attorney, Certified Mortgage Banker, and editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, writes on Allen Seymour, 42, Oxford, MA, who was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court for his role in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate transactions.

Simultaneously, Seymour allegedly found individuals with good credit who were looking to begin investing in real estate. Many of these “investors” were allegedly told they would be helping homeowners in danger of foreclosure. Seymour allegedly told several investors that the purchase would only be temporary, and the homeowners would purchase the property back from them after Seymour repaired the homeowner’s credit. Others were allegedly told that Seymour’s company would repair and rehab the properties, and then sell them at a profit, to be shared by Seymour and the investors.

It is alleged that none of the proposals made to these “investors” matched the transactions presented to the homeowner. The investors were not told of the “lifetime leases” and “reverse mortgages” Seymour had allegedly promised to the homeowners.

Mortgage fraud expert witnesses may opine on occupancy fraud, income fraud, and appraisal fraud. Here, Rachel Dollar, attorney, Certified Mortgage Banker, and editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, writes on Allen Seymour, 42, Oxford, MA, who was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court for his role in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate transactions.

The second phase of the investigation focused on 14 real estate transactions in the Worcester County area. Massachusetts State Police and financial investigators assigned to the Attorney General’s Office have uncovered a scheme, allegedly organized by Allen Seymour, whereby Seymour was able to transform apparent equity in distressed properties into cash.

According to authorities, Seymour targeted properties in danger of foreclosure. He allegedly personally approached the owners of these properties and presented a variety of rescue options. For those homeowners who merely wished to sell their property to avoid foreclosure, Seymour allegedly offered to purchase the property for the amount owed to the foreclosing lenders. For the several homeowners who wanted to remain in their homes, Seymour allegedly presented rescue plans which ranged from “lifetime leases” and “reverse mortgages” to a simple refinance. Allegedly, some of these homeowners were told they would need to transfer title of the property to an “investor,” and some were not. Seymour allegedly had some homeowners sign innocuous documents to begin the process. These innocuous pages were then discarded and substituted with pages purporting to grant Power of Attorney from the homeowner to Jason Passell.

Mortgage fraud expert witnesses may opine on occupancy fraud, income fraud, and appraisal fraud. Here, Rachel Dollar, attorney, Certified Mortgage Banker, and editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, writes on the Massachusetts man arraigned for fraudulent mortgage transactions:

Allen Seymour, 42, Oxford, MA, was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court for his role in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate transactions involving distressed properties in the Worcester County, Massachusetts area.

Seymour is charged with Forgery (4 counts), Uttering (8 counts), Inducing a Lender to Part with Property (12 counts) and Larceny by False Pretenses. Massachusetts State Police have transported Seymour from federal prison in New Jersey to Massachusetts.

In Environment, Highways to Benefit from ‘Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA) of 2010, ATA trucking experts write:

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) strongly supports the “Safe and Efficient Transportation ACT (SETA) of 2010, S. 3705, introduced Aug. 4 by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.). The legislation will allow states to authorize the operation of more efficient commercial trucks, resulting in safer highways, cleaner air and less costly freight transportation. Identical legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 1799, currently has 54 co-sponsors.

The bill authorizes states to allow the operation of trucks on the Interstate Highway System with a gross weight of 97,000 pounds. Current law limits the weight of 5-axle trucks traveling on the Interstate System to 80,000 pounds. The legislation requires that trucks operating above 80,000 pounds must add a sixth axle to compensate for the extra weight. The extra axle adds additional braking capacity, preventing an increase in stopping distances, and prevents pavements from sustaining more damage.

Rubber expert witnesses may opine on rubber consumer products, tires, and rubber piping. Here, experts at the Rubber Manufacturers Association comment on the EPA’s proposed rule on scrap tires.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a rule that would significantly harm the existing infrastructure that manages scrap tires as well as reverse two decades of environmental cleanup success, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA).

After decades of EPA-sanctioned use as a supplemental industrial fuel, EPA is proposing now to declare whole scrap tires a solid waste. The new designation would require facilities using whole tire-derived fuel (TDF) to add costly new emission controls that would not be required to burn traditional, less efficient fuels. Instead of this option, many TDF users, likely will opt to stop using TDF in favor of more costly, less efficient and higher emitting traditional fossil fuels, including coal. This will likely result in a dramatic reduction of TDF use while driving tens of millions of scrap tires back to landfills, stockpiles and illegal dumping sites.

In Fuel Tax Continues to Provide Greatest Public Benefits, trucking experts at the American Transportation Associations write:

It is time to fix our crumbling transportation infrastructure by raising the gas tax, The Washington Post said in a recent editorial.

“By any measure, driving in the United States is cheap,” The Post said. “Driving today is substantially cheaper, in real terms, than it was about a generation ago…Americans spend just $19 on gas taxes per 1,000 miles driven — half of what they paid in 1975.” Highways are experiencing twice the usage, twice the wear and tear, for the same amount of money; it is a system which can not sustain itself and results in poorer roads for taxpayers. An expected freight boom over the next ten years will put an even greater strain on the nation’s vital transportation system.