Expert Witness Blog

A Jones County, MS, jury decided against a couple’s claim that dioxins from the DuPont Co.’s plant on the Gulf Coast were responsible for the death of their daughter. Kerman and Naomi Ladner of DeLisle filed a lawsuit claiming that their daughter’s liver cancer and heart problems were caused by dioxins released from DuPont’s plant. The DeLisle facility is the second-largest titanium dioxide maker in the country.

DuPont called several environmental expert witnesses to rebut claims made by the plaintiffs. Expert witness testimony led the Jones County jury to find that DuPont “negligently released dioxins and arsenic from the DeLisle facility” but did not link the release to the death of the Ladners’ daughter reports The Laurel Leader-Call.

Worcester, MA police officer Heriberto Arroyo was convicted June 7th in U.S. District Court on two conspiracy drug charges. Arroyo was found guilty of conspiracy to possess GBL and GHB and conspiracy to possess Ecstasy and cocaine. GHB is widely believed to be used primarily for drugging women for purposes of sexual assault. Each conviction carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison. Prosecutors called three expert witnesses on GBL and GHB, which weightlifters and party-goers use. No law enforcement expert witnesses were called.

The jury found Patrolman Arroyo not guilty of conspiracy to possess GHB and GBL with intent to distribute, which carries a maximum 20 year sentence reports Telegram.com.

Flawed testimony by a state expert witness led to a new trial for Julie Amero, the Norwich substitute teacher accused of surfing Internet porn in the classroom. New evidence contradicts information presented by the state’s computer expert witness. New London, CT, Superior Court Judge Hillary B. Strackbein said, “The jury may have relied, at least in part, on that false information.” She ordered a new trial “in the interest of justice.”

The defense claims Amero’s computer was inundated with adware-generated pop-up ads, contradicting the state’s contention the surfing was deliberate reports Norwich Bulletin.com.

Testifying as a security expert witness at the Air India inquiry, Dr. Kathlenn Sweet, said she had spotted an unlocked gate at a jet fuel depot at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Dr. Sweet, a former U.S. Air Force attaché in Moscow, was surprised to see the open gate, given the risks of a terrorist attack at an airport. She found the unlocked gate particulary alarming because she spotted it flying into Canada less than a week after U.S. authorities uncovered a plot to blow up jet fuel pipelines and storage facilities at JFK Airport.

As reported in GlobeMail.com, expert witness Dr. Sweet told the inquiry that air safety authorities should not expect to plug their security gaps with expensive new high-tech screening equipment if they are neglecting simple and cheap measures, such as locking fuel depots.

Entomologist expert witness Lynn Kimsey identified evidence on a car radiator and air filter in the mass-murder trial of Vincent Brothers. Kimsey was asked by two FBI agents and a Bakersfield police detective to identify insect specimens and their origin as evidence in the multiple-murder case. In July 2003, Brothers allegedly flew from Bakersfield to Ohio and drove a rental car back to Bakersfield in order to kill his estranged wife, their three children and his mother-in-law.

The California Aggie reports that Brothers’ defense team called four expert witnesses of their own, three from Purdue University and one from Illinois, to counter Kimsey. They claimed that insects are easily distributed, attempting to cast doubt on the prosecution’s theory that Brothers drove to California.

In Dennis Reedy v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36539, the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied the parties’ cross-motions to exclude the testimony of liability expert witnesses. Plaintiff Reedy claims negligence against the defendant CSX for injuries sustained on his job at Keystone Iron & Metal Co.

The plaintiff attacked defense expert witness Mr. Daum’s reliance on his inspection of the rail car in November 2006 because it was over one year after the accident. The defense attacked the plaintiff’s mechanical failure expert witness, Mr. Tucker arguing that he “failed to employ any scientific or technical method or procedure” in support of his opinions.

On May 18, 2007, the court decided:

The parties’ cross-Motions to exclude the testimony of liability experts (Docs. 15 & 17) are DENIED, consistent with the analyses in the above Opinion. In addition, the Defendant may submit, within eleven (11) days of the date of this Order, the affidavit of an appropriate CSX representative stating on personal knowledge that, if repairs were made to the Rail Car’s handbrake housing, they would be reflected in the AAR-CRB History or some other existing documentation.

The US District Court for the District of South Carolina denied both motions filed by manufacturer Metalcraft in a products liability action. The summary judgment motion as well as the motion to exclude the testimony of an opposing products liability expert witness were denied. In Kevin Neil Flynn vs. Metalcraft of Mayville, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36380, Flynn brought a products liability action for injuries he sustained when he was mowing using a Scag Hydrostatic Walk-Behind Mower (“mower”) manufactured by Metalcraft. Flynn alleges that on July 19, 2003, he was using the mower when he lost control and the mower turned on him, causing injuries to his left ankle and right foot from the blade.

Flynn asserted causes of action based on strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. Metalcraft filed a summary judgment motion and a motion to exclude the expert witness testimony of Lynn Burkholder, the plaintiff’s liability expert witness. Metalcraft contended that (1) the testimony of Lynn Burkholder, the Plaintiff’s liability expert, must be excluded; (2) the doctrine of spoiliation requires dismissal of this case; and (3) the Plaintiff’s comparative negligence exceeds fifty percent.

The court denied Metalcraft’s motion for summary judgment as well as Metalcraft’s motion in limine to exclude Burkholder’s testimony.

Rhode Island won a landmark lawsuit against former manufacturers of lead paint but the two sides cannot agree on how to clean up the contaminated properties. Sherwin-Williams, Millennium Holdings LLC, and NL Industries, Inc., were found liable for “creating a public nuisance by manufacturing and selling a toxic product” which could them cost billions of dollars. They would like to call expert witnesses in an appeal according to the Boston.com . The companies say they need “more evidence and information before any work can begin.” They have appealed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court in order to conduct further hearings and cross-examine lead paint expert witnesses.

British aviation expert witness Rodney Wallis testified in the Air India inquiry that he’s concerned about the U.S. practice of having security officers with guns aboard flights. Expert witness Wallis consults for the International Civil Aviation Organization and warns that bullets could hit passengers or pierce the aircraft skin causing cabin decompression resulting in a crash.

“There is no place for a weapon of any sort in the cabin of an airplane.”

Armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police do ride some Canadian commercial airliners, mostly on routes to Washington, D.C., to comply with U.S. requirements reports CBCNews.ca.