Expert Witness Blog

In What’s Your H2O (Safety) IQ?, water safety expert witness Dr. David Smith, Commander, USCG (RET) writes:

The following 20 questions were the basis of a key address to the First International Boating and Water Safety Summit, April 18-25, 1997 in San Diego, California. The Summit was sponsored by the National Water Safety Council and The National Safe Boating Council. This article is taken from the proceedings of the Summit. The article has been repeatedly updated to reflect current aquatic accident statistics. Human physiology, by contrast, has not been known to change in the last 10,000 decades.

How well can you answer these twenty boating and water safety questions:

11. [a] How fast does an immersed body lose heat to water?

Workers compensation expert witnesses may provide reports regarding injured workers, compensation claims, and employee claims. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Portland, OR, ruled Friday against worker’s compensation benefits for longshoreman Gary Schwirse. Evidence showed he had 9 beers and half-pint of whiskey before he fell over a railing and landed on concrete.

Case No. 11-73172; BRB No. 11-0119.

Lead poisoning expert witness Joseph Courtney testified in The People of California v. Atlantic Richfield Company et al regarding lead-based paint as a source of lead poisoning. Courtney is a research scientist for the California Department of Public Health’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch. Ten cities and counties want lead based paint manufacturers to pay for eradicating lead paint from homes.

The Department of Public Health’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch states that children at risk for lead poisoning are young children under six years of age who spend time in homes, childcare centers, or buildings built before 1978 that have chipping or peeling paint. Because their brains and nervous systems are still forming, they are at greatest risk of harmful health effects from lead poisoning.

Food safety expert witnesses may testify on nutritional supplements, food packaging, food sanitation, nutrition, food processing, and more. On Saturday, the FDA released this information on the multistate outbreak of Cyclosporiasis:

The FDA traceback investigation has confirmed that the salad mix identified by Iowa and Nebraska as being linked to the outbreak of cyclosporiasis in those states was supplied to restaurants in those states by Taylor Farms de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V., a processor of foodservice salads. The FDA traceback investigation found that illness clusters at restaurants were traced to a common supplier, Taylor Farms de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. The restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska include Olive Garden and Red Lobster, both of which are owned by Darden Restaurants.

FDA’s investigation has not implicated consumer packages sold in grocery stores.

Employment expert witnesses may consult on compensation, human resources, wrongful termination, labor economics, labor law, and benefits, as well as related topics. Over the weekend, negotiations between Bay Area Rapid Transit management and the agency’s two largest unions over pay, medical benefits and pensions resumed Sunday morning. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 gave notice to strike Monday if no progress is made before then. BART trains carry approximately 400,000 passengers daily.

Explosions expert witnesses may provide reports on chemical explosives, implosions, steam boiler explosions, dust explosions, and more. This week eight people were injured in a central Florida propane gas plant explosion. The accident happened Monday night at the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Lake County, FL. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents who investigated the Texas fertilizer plant explosion will be part of the team in Tavares. Prosecutor Byron Todd Jones is to be installed as the new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In What’s Your H2O (Safety) IQ?, water safety expert witness Dr. David Smith, Commander, USCG (RET) writes:

The following 20 questions were the basis of a key address to the First International Boating and Water Safety Summit, April 18-25, 1997 in San Diego, California. The Summit was sponsored by the National Water Safety Council and The National Safe Boating Council. This article is taken from the proceedings of the Summit. The article has been repeatedly updated to reflect current aquatic accident statistics. Human physiology, by contrast, has not been known to change in the last 10,000 decades.

How well can you answer these twenty boating and water safety questions:

Computer security expert witnesses may consult regarding network security, network forensics, computer crime, data security, and computer forensics. According to Reuters, computer software hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek will release blueprints for techniques to attack critical systems in the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape at the Def Con hacking convention in Las Vegas, August 1-4, 2013. Miller and Valasek are labeled “white hats,” meaning ethical hackers who specialize in uncovering computer weaknesses before criminals may exploit them.

In They Forged My Name, handwriting expert witness Jan F. Leach, Janus Document Examination, writes:

“They forged my name” is a common cry heard by document examiners and handwriting analysts. The anguish felt by many as the courts, credit card companies, mortgage foreclosure specialist act upon these forgeries AS IF THEY WERE genuine and real signatures. When someone steals your identity or your signature, it is a grievous assault on your personal and financial safety.

What to do to protect your signature