Expert Witness Blog

Dentistry expert witness Dr. Gary Pearl testified on behalf of the Connecticut Department of Public Health in the case against Dr. Rashmi Patel. State health officials are trying to permanently revoke Patel’s dental license after the death of Judith Gan. Gan died an hour after getting implants and 20 teeth extracted in Patel’s office. During the procedures, the retired librarian’s vital signs dropped and dental assistants asked him to stop. By the time 911 was called, Gan had no brain waves or heartbeat.

While Dr. Patel says he did nothing wrong, state health officials suspended his license in April. Dr. Pearl testified “It’s my belief that (Gan) did not have to die to receive this dental treatment and it is because of… Patel’s negligence that she died.”

In 2013 a male patient was being treated for an extraction that resulted in a six day hospital stay for heart and lung damage. The patient’s throat pack was sucked into his lungs.

Child abuse expert witness Dr. James Lukefahr testified in the case against Matthew Aranda following the death of Aranda’s adopted daughter Melody Velasquez, 3. Aranda claims that she accidentally fell down a flight of stairs but medical experts have testified that the death was a homicide. Dr. Lukefahr, director of the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, told the jury “If someone or something could cause her to be thrown or pushed down the staircase at a very high rate of speed, then that conceivably (could) cause some of those fatal injuries that she had.” Melody suffered broken limbs, ribs, multiple bruises and head injuries.

The professor of pediatrics testified recently before the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities in San Antonio, TX. He presented statistics showing that in 2013 Texas had 156 child abuse and neglect deaths. In 2011 there were 231, and 280 in 2009.

The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities held its first public meeting this week at the University of Texas, San Antonio on June 2-3, 2014. CECANF was established by Public Law 112-275 (112th Congress), the Protect Our Kids Act of 2012, to develop a national strategy and recommendations for reducing fatalities across the country resulting from child abuse and neglect. The meeting in San Antonio was the first opportunity for Commission members to gather detailed information and insight related to federal policy, research, and practice associated with child abuse and neglect fatalities, with a practice focus on Texas.

Gun range expert witness Albert Rodriguez testified that the County Line Shooting Center, San Marcos, TX, was built in the wrong place and is a “major threat to human life.” Rodriguez is a former Texas Department of Public Safety gun range master and testified that hundreds of bullets have been fired onto neighboring property. Property owners filed a lawsuit to have the range shut down or brought up to safety standards.

In Outdoor Shooting Range Best Practices, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources describes specifications for the shooting range backstop.

A backstop is a device constructed to stop or re-direct bullets fired on a range A backstop is the key component providing range safety and use for people in the area in and beyond a rifle or pistol range. Current NRA and NSSF safety philosophies are predicated toward range self-containment of shot rounds, i.e., “if it’s shot here, keep it here.” A properly constructed backstop at a rifle and/or pistol range are usually constructed out of a core material of compacted soil, rock or crushed cement, covered by rock-free earthen material, up to a recommended height of twenty (20) feet at a 1:1 slope (soil type dependent), with a 4 foot-wide flat top. Backstop width will be dependent upon the numbers of shooting stations the range operator wants installed at the firing line.