Articles Posted in Expert Witness Testimony

Justin Grodin was found guilty Wednesday of killing his 11-month-old step daughter Gretchen in 2000. Grodin had been in and out of court over the last nine years over his competency and mental state. Psychiatry expert witness Dr. Frederick Schaerf of Fort Meyers testified for the defense Tuesday regarding Grodin’s “mental illness” but the jury didn’t buy it.

Grodin had multiple outbursts and showed strange behavior in court over the last two weeks but the judge declared Grodin fit for trial. Medical expert witness Doctor Frederick Scharef saw Grodin 8 times since 2003 and said there is no doubt that at times Grodin is malingering or faking.

Excerpted from WinkNews.com.

Wayne and Cathy Makowski testified in their wrongful death suit against Brickman Management Co., the McDonald’s franchisee, and B & B Cash Grocery Stores, the owner of the U.S. 41 shopping center that is home to the restaurant. The lawsuit alleges the businesses failed to provide adequate security to keep their son Anthony, 21, safe in the early morning brawl at a McDonald’s in Land O’Lakes.

The security expert witness for the plaintiffs said last week that incidents like parking lot fights have a probability of escalating into something worse and the restaurant should have had something in place, such as a security guard, to deter them. An expert for the defense countered Monday that alcohol-fueled fights between strangers that result in a death are rare, thus impossible to foresee and prepare for. Gregg McCrary, a former FBI agent, said the shopping center was not an area known for violent crime – only for late-night nuisances – and that restaurant employees responded appropriately when the fight broke out.

Excerpted from TampaBay.com.

The Nebraska Supreme Court issued a decision Friday upholding Edward Poindexter’s conviction in the 1971 killing of police officer Larry Minard Sr. The Omaha police officer responded to a call for help at a vacant house and was killed when a suitcase found at the house, and rigged with a bomb, exploded.

The state Supreme Court found no merit in Poindexter’s claims of misconduct by prosecutors, ineffective defense and errors made during his trial. Poindexter alleged his defense attorneys were ineffective in their cross examination of witnesses, did not inquire about missing police reports, and did not offer evidence discrediting expert witnesses or evidence concerning a 911 tape recording. The court also rejected Poindexter’s arguments.

Excerpted from JournalStar.com.

NASCAR is accusing Jeremy Mayfield’s medical expert witness of presenting false testimony about his credentials, according to a motion filed in U.S. District Court. Mayfield’s lawyers used the testimony of Dr. Harvey MacFenerstein as the basis for their request that Mayfield be reinstated immediately as he fights his indefinite suspension. NASCAR is questioning the medical degrees and certifications claimed by MacFenerstein. HamptonRoads.com reports:

MacFenerstein said he received a bachelor of science degree in medical technology from Midwestern State University (Texas) in 1975. According to NASCAR, school records do not show MacFenerstein graduated or received a degree from the school.

MacFenerstein said he obtained his medical doctor degree in clinical pathology from CETED University. NASCAR said the school in Mexico has no record of MacFenerstein as a former or current student.

U.S. District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty ruled that grazing will be allowed on seven allotments in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest as part of a ruling issued Monday in Portland. The ruling lifts a ban on grazing in two allotments, Murderers Creek and Lower Middle Fork, issued by Haggerty in May 2008. Ranchers who rely on the national forest for grazing were expected to turn out their cattle on Friday, June 19.

Environmentalist groups involved in the lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service had requested that Haggerty completely prohibit cattle grazing in eight allotments in the national forest.

Testimony from forestry expert witnesses summoned by the U.S. Forest Service, on the other hand, “has established that the grazing proposals for 2009, if properly executed, will adequately protect riparian habitat.” During a hearing Friday, June 12, fish and stream experts countered allegations that grazing causes permanent damage to threatened steelhead habitat.

The man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller was sentenced Friday to four to five years in state prison for his conviction in the kidnapping of his daughter last summer, ending a colorful chapter in the bizarre saga of the German national whom police call a “person of interest” in an ongoing California homicide investigation. Rockefeller’s two lawyers tried to cast him as a mentally disturbed man who believed in the fantasy world he had created and said he should be acquitted on grounds of insanity.

But the jury rejected the defense argument and found Rockefeller guilty on two of the four counts against him: parental kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The defense presented two experts who testified that Rockefeller’s mental illnesses caused him to believe in his invented lives, including that he was a member of the storied Rockefeller family. “Expert witness testimony figured prominently,” jury foreman Michael Gregory said. The state’s psychology expert witness countered that Rockefeller suffers from a mental disorder but exaggerated his symptoms and was legally sane when he abducted his daughter.

Excerpted from Boston.com

Eli Lilly & Co. won in a ruling to prevent a “critical” pharmacology expert witness from testifying on behalf of plaintiffs in cases involving the company’s Zyprexa drug. Bloomsberg.com reports:

U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York, said he will exclude the expert testimony of Dr. Stephen Hamburger. The doctor has offered testimony in some 20 individual Zyprexa cases, seven of which now have pending summary judgment motions before Weinstein, the judge said in a decision issued yesterday.

The Indianapolis-based drugmaker had moved to prevent Hamburger from testifying as an expert witness in the cases. Zyprexa is approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The plaintiffs claim Lilly urged doctors to prescribe Zyprexa for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

While there are many cases of child abuse each year, Shaken Baby Syndrome is a hot topic right now and child abuse experts are taking a second look at cases that put people in prison for shaking a baby. Some medical professionals and lawyers say there’s just not enough known about Shaken Baby Syndrome to make convictions.

Audrey Edmunds was accused of shaking seven month old Natalie Beard on October 16, 1995. In 1996, Edmunds was sentenced to 18 years in prison. She always maintained her innocence. The expert witnesses in her case later said the child’s symptoms could be linked to other causes. The Wisconsin District IV Court of Appeals granted Edmunds a new trial in March 2007, after she’d been incarcerated for ten years. Edmunds walked free in February of 2008 after a decade behind bars.
Excerpted from Komu.com.

OSHA has inspected the Cowboys indoor practice facility that collapsed Saturday and has up to six months to conclude an investigation. Summit Structures LLC of Allentown, Pa., built the $4 million facility in 2003. A Pennsylvania court ruled in 2007 that Summit was negligent in the design and construction of a membrane-covered warehouse that collapsed when a major snowstorm struck Philadelphia in 2003.

The building was constructed for the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, which brought the lawsuit. In his ruling, Judge Allan Tereshko wrote that structure came down “under the weight of the (year’s) first significant snowfall.” Those conditions, Tereshko wrote, “would have been easily tolerated by the building had it been properly designed and constructed.” Pennsylvania-based structural engineering expert witness Charles Timbie testified that the reasons for the collapse included miscalculating how much snow the roof could hold and a failure to install the required number of “king pins.”

Excerpted from MySACowboys.com.

A military forensic expert witness testified at a recent court-martial that kits used by the military to collect evidence in sexual assault cases do not have enough equipment or the necessary paperwork for investigators. Furthermore, those using the kits might not be receiving the proper training, she said. Navy Cmdr. Lovett Robinson, senior sexual assault forensic examiner for the National Naval Medical Center, was called to testify as a sexual abuse expert witness at the recent court-martial of Sgt. Vince Jahalal.

During questioning from Jahalal’s defense attorney, Robinson testified that she believes the three pages of paperwork included in the kits don’t supply enough information on the evidence collected and circumstances surrounding the case.