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Former University of Minnesota football player Dominic Jones, 21, is accused of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His defense attorney is asking for a “sexologist” as a witness and for the state to pay the bill for the expert’s testimony. The St. Paul lawyer Earl Gray lost the battle to keep the jury from seeing a cell phone video and photos, taken by a witness to the alleged assault which purportedly show Jones ejaculating on the woman. Gray hopes to convince jurors that some people view that as playful and not sexual abuse. Jones was charged after an 18-year-old woman said he and three other players got her drunk on vodka and then took turns having sex with her. Twincities.com writes:

Gray said in court papers his expert witness will testify that while some people view ejaculation as an act of hostility or aggression, others see it as “a symbol of closeness, sexual bonding or sexual competence.”

Sorry counselor, but from my perspective as a woman, a sexual abuse expert witness and not a “sexologist” is called for.

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Troy Critchley, a Queensland drag racer, has been charged with six counts of vehicular homicide in Tennessee. Six people were killed and 22 were injured when Critchley’s car ploughed into a crowd of spectators at a charity drag racing event. The racer was performing a “burnout routine” in June of 2007 when he lost control of his car and crashed. Race car builder Bobby Umstead testified as an automotive expert witness for Critchley and said that revving the motor did not affect the speed of Critchley’s dragster.
Couriermail.com reports:

An internationally-recognized expert in crash reconstruction and mechanical inspections was hired to conduct a comprehensive vehicle autopsy of the race car, with the evidence turned over to District Attorney General Mike Dunavant.

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Steve Rosen, American Israel Public Affairs Committee former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, face charges that they traded in secrets. Carl Ford, the State Department’s top intelligence official from 2001 to 2003 will serve as a foreign policy expert witness for the defense. PittChron.com also reports:

The heart of the 2005 indictment is a sting operation conducted a year earlier in which a government agent told the defendants that he had information that could prevent the imminent killing of Israelis. Rosen and Weissman relayed the information – which turned out to be a fiction – to journalists and Israeli diplomats…

Ford’s leadership coincides with much of the timeline cited in the indictment against Rosen and Weissman. He would have been privy to much of the specific information they allegedly received.

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In Defending Lead-Containing Toy Lawsuits, Ryan L. Nilson and Michael R. Carey explore ways to challenge plaintiffs’ lead poisoning expert witnesses in lead toy exposure litigation. They write:

An injured child epitomizes the sympathetic plaintiff. Not surprisingly, therefore, children injured by toys containing lead have captured the attention of the plaintiff’s bar. Proving – or disproving – exposure, causation, and damages in lead poisoning cases, however, is not child’s play…

Lead is everywhere in our environment. Its most prevalent source is leaded-fuel exhaust that, for decades, has accumulated in the soil and entered our bodies as dust. Exposure also occurs in residential homes when lead paint peels and flakes off walls and children ingest the chips or when drrinking water becomes contaminated by lead piping and solder used in home plumbing.

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Ever wonder and/or worry about what would happen if your car was stolen? Rob Painter, forensic locksmith, automotive expert witness, and principal of Rob Painter & Associates, can tell you. In this excerpt he writes on forced entry:

The first thing you must know is that vehicles are not secure. Commonly equipped with electronic door locking systems, the insured might assumed he locked the door when in fact it did not lock by use of the transmitter. Forced entry tools are readily available to anyone on the Web. Most leave no obvious signs of damage. You lock your keys in your car. You call a locksmith. He opens the car doing no damage and yet when working for the insurance company, he observed no signs of forced entry. Strange but true. On 99.9% of the thousands of vehicles I have examined, they were always unlocked at the time of my examination.

Insurance companies deem vehicles with anti theft systems “Unstealable.” This is interesting because even the manufacturer of the vehicle does not guaranty their vehicle can’t be stolen or they would warranty it accordingly. Who do we believe? The manufacturer that makes the vehicle? Or the insurance company and their experts?

From Mr. Rob Painter, http://www.autotheftexpert.com/

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The jury begins deliberating today in the fraud trial of celebrity autopsy expert witness Cyril Wecht. Wecht is charged in a 41-count federal indictment with using his former Allegheny County coroner’s staff and resources to help him earn millions doing autopsies for hire. The expert witness has become a famous author, TV pundit and public speaker on high-profile cases in which he was involved, including the deaths of Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Claus von Bulow. FortMillTimes.com also writes:

Wecht is also accused of cheating some private clients with phony limousine bills and other bogus travel expenses. Finally, he faces the macabre allegation that he traded as many as 16 unclaimed county morgue cadavers for laboratory space at a Pittsburgh university in recent years. Wecht’s attorneys have argued the indictment is a laundry list of administrative peccadilloes, not federal crimes.

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Are skiiers responsible for the injuries they suffer? Kenny Salvini, 23, became paralyzed from the neck down after a jump in 2004 at the Summit on Snoqualmie, WA. Nine days later ski instructor Peter Melrose died at the foot of the same jump. Jasper Shealy, skiing and snowboarding expert witness defends the ski industry. Seattlepi.com reports:

In 2007, a King County jury found the Summit at Snoqualmie liable for just less than half of Salvini’s pain, suffering and lasting paralysis, levying $14 million in damages against the ski area. The judgment — described by one group representing ski areas as a “runaway jury verdict” — came as a shock to the industry, which, in the past two decades, has largely received legal protection from skiers hurt on the hills. Jasper Shealy, a retired engineering professor often hired as an expert witness by the ski industry, called the assertion that ski area managers can design safer jumps “a naive notion.” Salvini’s injuries were unfortunate but, Shealy contended, occurred because he hit the jump too fast. In Shealy’s view, suggested engineered fixes underestimate a skier’s impact of flight and the variability of snow.

“The problem here is you’re not dealing with something like steel or iron or concrete. You’re dealing with a very malleable, changeable substance,” said Shealy, speaking from his Rochester, N.Y., office. “Even if we had some magic formula — and frankly I don’t believe there is one — within a day or two the jump is likely to be very different.”

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The number of deaths in rollover crashes has climbed with the popularity of SUVs and other light trucks whose relatively high centers of gravity increases the chance of rollovers. While some carmakers have denied any connection between roof strength and passenger safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study Wednesday that suggests the opposite. Carl Nash, a former NHTSA official who works as an accident and safety expert witness in rollover cases against car companies says automakers “build cars as if the roof is never going to touch the ground.” Newsday.com also reports:

In its tests, the institute said, the differences among the 11 vehicles were dramatic. For example, it said, when a Nissan Xterra and Ford Explorer, both 2000 models, were subjected to a crushing force of up to 10,000 pounds, the Nissan’s roof crushed about two inches, while the Explorer’s deformed 10 inches, “caving far into the occupant compartment even before reaching 10,000 pounds of force.”

Other vehicles tested and studied included the 1996-2004 Chevrolet Blazer, 2002-05 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, 1998-2003 Dodge Durango, 2002-04 Ford Explorer, 1996-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1999-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2002-05 Jeep Liberty, 1997-2004 Mitsubishi Montero Sport, and 1996-2000 Toyota 4Runner.

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In A Look at Art Experts’ Liabilities John Dratz Jr. discusses the appraisal and valuation expert witness’s role in authenticating and appraising works of art. This excerpt discusses defamation cases.

Defamation actions protect the aggrieved party’s name as opposed to his or her purely economic interests. As with disparagement, the statement must be false and published to a person other than the plaintiff. The defamatory statement must also be of a purported fact that can be objectively verified. Thus, a television news report implying that an art dealer knowingly sold stolen candelabra to the de Young Museum is a defamatory statement capable of being objectively determined to be true or false. (Weller v. American Broadcasting Cos., 232 Cal. App. 3d 991 (1991).)

As in other actions based on defamation, the public or private nature of the matter affects the burden of proof. Artists as a rule assume the status of public figures by placing their art in the public eye, and to prevail a plaintiff would be required to prove that the defendant’s statement regarding the artist was “substantially false.” (Weller, 232 Cal. App. 3d at 1010.) However , if the allegedly defamatory statement centered on a private matter – such as a purely contractual relationshiop between artists or between artists and dealers – then the defendant would have the burden of proving its truth. (See Polygram Records, Inc. v. Superior Court, 170 Cal.App. 3d 543 (1985).)

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Safety advocates have long argued that SUV roofs crush too easily in rollover crashes and cause avoidable deaths. About 10,000 deaths a year occur in rollovers. The numbers have climbed with the rise in popularity of SUVs and other light trucks, whose relatively high centers of gravity increased the chances of rollovers. While some carmakers have denied any connection between roof strength and passenger safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study Wednesday that suggests the opposite. Carl Nash, a former NHTSA official who works as an accident and safety expert witness in rollover cases against car companies says automakers “build cars as if the roof is never going to touch the ground.”

NHTSA hasn’t upgraded its standard for roof strength since 1971but this about to change. Newsday.com writes:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is scheduled to increase vehicle roof strength requirements this summer for the first time since 1973 for passenger cars and since 1994 for light trucks. The current minimum mandates that cars and light trucks be able to support of 1 1/2 times the vehicle’s weight in a roll over crash without deforming more than five inches, and that requirement could change to 2 1/2 times their weight.

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