Expert Witness Blog
As reported in Pennsylvania’s Times Leader, U.S. District Judge James Munley allowed gang expert witness Jared Lewis to testify as an expert witness at a Pennsylvania trial regarding the Illegal Immigration Relief Act. Lewis testified that the gang named “MS-13” had a presence in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and was one of the most dangerous gangs in the world.
Lewis was allowed to testify even though he had minimal law enforcement experience, did not include any published authoritative works in his resume, and his expert report did not include any information based on gang statistics specific to the area. The court found that his area of expertise is not an area about which many authoritative books have been written.
Mike Cutler, a retired agent from the former U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services, is expected to testify as an expert witness for the defense, and is also expected to be the final witness in the trial.