Expert witnesses from both sides agreed in testimony Thursday that Joseph E. Dodick’s failed brake system contributed to the crash that took the life of Michael Mikulin, 20, in Geneva, Ohio two years ago. Two accident reconstruction experts as well as a forensic engineering expert witness testified in the case.
Ashtabula County deputy engineer LeRoy McNeilly and Cuyahoga County coroner Dr. Frank Miller were also among witnesses called by attorneys. Dodick is charged with vehicular homicide.
The home inspection expert witness’s report may cover the condition of the heating system, air conditioning system, plumbing, electrical systems, roof, attic,walls, ceilings, floors, windows, doors, the foundation, basement, and structural components.
The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) recommends:
Do not let cost be a factor in deciding whether or not to have a home inspection or in the selection of your home inspector. The sense of security and knowledge gained from an inspection is well worth the cost, and the lowest-priced inspection is not necessarily a bargain. Use the inspector’s qualifications, including experience, training, compliance with your state’s regulations, if any, and professional affiliations as a guide.
In Guaranteed Maximum Contracts construction expert witness Paul Gogulski explains the the G-Max contract:
How do they work? In the following example, the best bid price received from a qualified general contractor for a major renovation is $2.5 million. The owner’s budget is $2.2 million, but modifications and changes are anticipated for an additional $500,000 estimated construction costs. Time is of the essence. The project must start immediately. The owner wishes to cut $300,000 from the base contract without changing the scope of work and at the same time control cost of the additions without giving away the $500,000. The contractor already dropped his price on the first round of negotiations and won’t budge off his $2.5 million. This project is an ideal candidate for G-Max conversion.
Certified Professional Agronomist Dale Softley serves as an agricultural expert witness in agricultural fraud cases. He writes:
Many agronomists use GPS and GIS technology when possible to increase the precession of their work. Placing a GPS in one’s pocket produces an exact map of where in the field the person had traveled, and can note specific points on a computerized map for future reference or application. As part of our practice I normally use a GPS when making aerial observations of fields or locations. The use of aerial observations and photography of a subject site often provides new or different insights of a specific problem not readily apparent from ground observations.
When working loss problems an Agronomist may use a variety of sources, from government’s documents, public records, and personal knowledge, to solve a given problem.
In Guaranteed Maximum Contracts construction expert witness Paul Gogulski explains the the G-Max contract:
Guaranteed Maximum Contracts or G-Max are becoming more popular as a corporate vehicle to control cost and integrate the diverse interests of a complex project. Not to be confused with cost plus, the G-Max contract is bid exactly the same as lump sum. The contractor assumes the same risk, with a big stipulation: he’s willing to share in the savings on the basis of the owner’s guarantee of fee and prompt payment of net cost.
There’s no difference in cost or risk between Lump Sum and Guaranteed Max, but a big difference in results, particularly on the owner’s side of the fence. Don’t let anyone tell you that G-Max cost more. They don’t! In fact, Lump Sum contracts are sometimes converted to G-Max for the same price or less.
Certified Professional Agronomist Dale Softley serves as an agricultural expert witness in agricultural fraud cases. He describes his forensic agronomist job as being “like ‘CSI’, but for plants.” The Softleys test soil, stems, or anything they can find to solve problems that include why crops are not growing, how plants became diseased or any other conditions farmers and their insurance companies want explained. Softley states:
Forensic agronomy normally is used to investigate issues over damage to crop or soil by a second or third party, such as chemical drift, livestock invasion, range fires, water drainage obstructions, and a host of other events.
Production problems pertaining to the loss of yield, including hail are covered by specific policies, and are adjusted by specialized personal. Once in a while someone can slip things past these adjusters and they need some expertise to help solve problems.
In Mold Claims: Recognizing What Is Real and Dealing With the Current Excessive Fears and Claims, pollution expert witness Ronald E. Gots, MD, Ph.D.writes:
RISK DECISION PROCESS
As noted in the introduction, true health risks are generally minimal in most mold contamination situations. Exceptions may rarely exist, i.e., if contamination is extensive,
Certified Professional Agronomist Dale Softley serves as an agricultural expert witness in agricultural fraud cases. In Forensic Agronomy, a new tool to solve old problems, Softley describes forensic agronomy:
Forensic agronomy is the using of agronomic procedures to measure and verify facts pertaining to agricultural claims or losses. Once facts have been quantified and documented there is reduced room for argument, and the emotion of that issue is minimized for the case.
Agronomy is the general study or science of crop production that includes a large number of subtopics such as: genetics, fertility, soil, chemicals, range and grassland management,
In Mold Claims: Recognizing What Is Real and Dealing With the Current Excessive Fears and Claims, pollution expert witness Ronald E. Gots, MD, Ph.D.writes:
Outdoor levels of mold spores in parts of the country (i.e., St. Louis in summer) are routinely 50,000 m3.5 People are being told to evacuate homes which have 5% of those levels. The term “toxic” mold makes no sense.6 Almost all molds can make mycotoxins including Alternaria, one of the most common outdoor molds and always considered “non-toxic” or benign by environmental consultants. One of the reasons for this strange and vast discord between health realities and health perceptions is the lack of medical expert voices in the fray. Instead, the din of “indoor air” experts and “air quality experts,” few of whom have any medical expertise and even fewer of whom have read thoroughly the scientific literature, has coopted this field. Some fringe physicians have also jumped into this arena. The growing interest in testing and finding problems rivals Anderson’s interest in keeping Enron healthy. Thus, they are neither expert, nor impartial.
When the new junior high in Waterford Maine opened for the first time, a teacher observed that the ceiling was deflected and that dust was coming from the ceiling. The school was evacuated and a short time later the roof to collapsed. Wood products expert witness Rubin M. Zallen, P.E., determined that drifting snow increased the snow load and caused the collapse. In his report, Zallen offered these definitions:
The allowable load is also called the safe load; it is the ultimate load divided by an appropriate safety factor. The ultimate load itself may be a collapse load or may be a yield load beyond which excessive deflections would render the member unusable.
Dead load is the weight of the building components.
