Expert Witness Blog

Peter Braunstein admits to his attack on a a former colleague at Fairchild Publications in October of 2005 but has pleaded not guilty, blaming his actions on undiagnosed schizophrenia. Dr. Monte Buchsbaum, expert witness and professor of psychiatry at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, said that images of the activity in Braunstein’s brain were consistent with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

As reported at CourtTVnew.com, the alleged deficiency is crucial to the success of Braunstein’s defense strategy, which requires that a jury find he was incapable of conscious decision-making the day of the attack. Braunstein’s lawyers are expected to call another schizophrenia expert witness to corroborate Buchsbaum’s claim by making a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Vermont is the first state to go to trial over California’s greenhouse gas limits. The 16-day trial ended after expert witnesses gave testimony regarding fuel economy and greenhouse gas emmissions. The state’s automobile expert witness, K.G. Duleep, testified that car companies already have the technology to improve fuel economy sufficient to meet the 2016 standards.

Conversely, the automakers’ fuel economy expert witness gave testimony that fuel economy could not be improved sufficiently by 2016 to meet California’s greenhouse gas emissions limits. According to The Burlington Free Press, the judge allowed the two sides 30 days to file post-trial briefs with no indication on when he will issue a decision.

Juan Luna and his alleged accomplice Jim Degorski are charged with killing seven people in the Palatine Brown’s Chicken and Pasta murders 14 years ago. However, DNA expert Karl Reich told jurors DNA found at the crime scene can not be scientifically matched to Luna because of mishandling and inadequate testing. “You have to handle (the evidence) properly in order to get the right results … in order to have faith in those results,” Reich said.

The DNA match was based on nine points, but Reich said a 13-point match would have been more thorough and that as many as 1 million people in the U.S. could match those same nine points. As reported in the Daily Herald, a bird expert tesified on Monday regarding chicken bones from the crime scene.

Idaho District Judge James Michaud has dismissed lewd conduct and rape charges against defendant Leo Ray Hunsaker because of unnecessary delays in prosecuting the defendant, and issues with subpoenas of expert witnesses. The judge concluded that both the state and the defense had improperly subpoenaed DNA expert witnesses in the case.

The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that defendant Hunsaker, 39, was charged with engaging in lewd conduct with a girl in July 2002, when she was between the ages of 11 and 12. Hunsaker was also accused of raping the girl in 2004 and 2005, when she was 13- and 14-years old. Hunsaker pleaded not guilty to the charges.

As the case neared its sixth trial setting, both the prosecution and defense told the court key prosecution and defense witnesses would not be available to testify, which prompted the dismissal with prejudice.

According to aviation expert witness Robert Lemieux, Mark Tayfel, a pilot who crash-landed a twin-engine plane on a busy road after running out of fuel should be commended, not treated as a criminal. According to the Canadian Press, Tayfel is charged with criminal negligence causing death, four counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and dangerous operation of an aircraft. Tayfel and five passengers survived with various injuries, while an elderly U.S. fisherman died several weeks later in hospital.

“Most people walked away from that accident. He did his job until the bitter end,” said Lemieux.

Police procedure expert Penny Harrington, who was Portland’s police chief for 18 months in the mid-1980s, will testify as an expert witness in a sexual harassment case involving a fire department. Four women have alleged that they were subjected to sexual comments from their supervisor. Harrington has reviewed depositions from the case and concluded the four women were treated differently because of their sex.

The defense has pointed out that Penny Harrington has never worked for a fire department and has never been called as an expert witness in a lawsuit involving a fire department, he said.

The case began on May 2, 2007 in Oregon’s Clark County Superior Court, and is expected to last five weeks.

Psychology expert witness Mike Maynard will testify regarding the effect of convicted murderer Blaine Ross during the penalty phase of his trial. Blaine Ross was convicted in Bradenton, Florida, of killing his parents in 2004. Also scheduled to testify is Dr. Frank Wood, of Wake Forest University, an expert witness in schizophrenia.

The same jurors who convicted Ross of killing his parents are now deciding whether to recommend he get life in prison or the death penalty. The final decision rests with the judge.

Famed forensic expert witness Henry Lee’s television interview could result in sanctions against Phil Spector’s defense in Spector’s murder trial. The Associated Press is reporting that prosecutors are now seeking sanctions, which could range from barring Lee’s testimony, to advising the jury of a failure to disclose evidence in a timely manner.

Henry Lee, made famous as an expert witness in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, disclosed in an interview on Court TV an unusual theory that blood spatter could travel 72 inches. The interview came on the eve of a defense opening statement that utilized the same information. The prosecution states it was unaware of the defense theory until Lee was interviewed on Court TV.

The blood splatter distance is important is establishing how far Spector was from the victim at the time of her death. Prosecutors claim that the music producer shot actress Lana Clarkson, while the defense asserts she shot herself.