Strategic practice using effective courtroom testimony techniques will make you a better expert witness. You have valuable information to provide and your ability to fairly and confidently communicate that information…
Use of Force Expert Prohibited from Expressing Opinion on Video Evidence
Jackson v. Catanzariti, 2019 WL 2098991 (U. S. District Court, S.D. Georgia), is a case wherein former prison inmates sued correctional officers for violating their constitutional right to be free…
What Should an Expert do with Information Received that is Contrary to the Proffered Opinion?
Experts rarely work in epistemic silos, out of touch with other experts. Indeed, it is a hallmark of expert evidence that experts are allowed to rely upon and state hearsay evidence…
Federal Court Rejects Evidence of Forensic Video Analyst as Opinion “Largely Based on Conjecture and Speculation”
In Melton v. Klee, 2019 WL 1315723, the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, considered a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus following the petitioner’s conviction for assault…
Recommendations for Expert Image Comparison Evidence in the United Kingdom in Light of the FSR Regulatory Notice “Image Enhancement and Image Comparison: Provision of Opinion”
Introduction I attended the meeting of the Forensic Digital Media Analysis Working Group, organized and presented by the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, in Birmingham, UK on October 21, 2019. One…
Audio Interview: Keys to Effective Expert Witness Testimony
The Excellence in Training Academy (excellenceintrainingacademy.com), a resource dedicated to law enforcement training, interviewed me recently on the subject of expert witness testimony. In this hour-long interview, we cover a number…
Case Study: Facial Recognition Evidence Premised on Surveillance Video Rejected Due to Unreliability
A recent California case provides yet another illustration of how conclusions premised on the analysis of images obtained from surveillance video must be reached by people who have forensic video…
Case Study: Trial Judge Performs Image Comparison When Crown Fails to Present Expert Evidence
In R. v. Ermine, 2018 SKQB 77 (Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench), the trial judge was placed in the position of having to conduct his own video analysis because the…
In Search of the Truth: Why Experts Matter
During my career as a Crown Prosecutor, my goal has been to ascertain the truth as to what happened in any given incident because it is only upon discovering the…
Chicago Murder Prosecution Falters When Expert Fails to Stay Within His Lane
Currently, a murder trial is underway in Chicago wherein former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with unlawfully killing Laquan McDonald by shooting him 16 times. The shooting…
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