Expert evidence and hearsay

In upholding the admission of expert evidence, some courts have held that hearsay information conveyed via an expert may be admitted as long as the jury is instructed to ignore the facts asserted in the hearsay statements and to use the information only for determining the weight to attribute to the expert's opinion. Results of a mock juror simulation indicated that although hearsay elements conveyed via an expert were perceived as less likely compared to a condition in which the information was independently admitted at trial, it was not completely ignored by the jurors. Further, the findings tended to suggest that the impact of the hearsay on verdict decisions operated primarily by influencing evaluations regarding the likelihood of the hearsay events as opposed to judgments regarding the expert testimony.     

Historical perspectives on crime in England

A.B., DePauw University 1949; A.M., University of Pennsylvania 1950; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania 1953.     

Expert evidence: a practical guide

Legal context: expert witnesses now take part in many IP disputesand both experts and practitioners need to know the rules anddecisions affecting them. Key Points: we consider admissability of expert evidence, howto find an expert, appointment, how to change an expert, theexpert's duties, conflicts and the dangers of using an expert.It stresses the importance of finding an expert who knows thefield, will stick to it and communicates well. It is key notoversell or tempt the expert to oversell the evidence. Practitionersshould stay within the procedural rules, as mistakes can affectthe value of otherwise sound evidence. Practical significance: expert evidence is often decisive. Gettingit wrong can present a significant problem. English judges arenot slow to criticise any failure to meet the very high standardsthey expect of expert witnesses.     

Expert psychiatric evidence in sexual misconduct cases before state medical boards.

The growing problem of physician sexual misconduct has captured the attention not only of the medical and legal communities, but of the public as well. State medical boards, administrative agencies with generous rules of evidence and varying levels of expertise, face the difficult task of responding to patients' allegations of physician sexual abuse. This Article, based in large part on the author's survey of current state medical board practice, reveals an increasing reliance on expert psychiatric testimony to explain the behavior of complainants and accused physicians. Drawing analogies from the use of psychiatric evidence in child sexual abuse cases, the author examines the factors that boards must consider in determining the admissibility of expert testimony in physician sexual misconduct cases, and calls upon states to establish clear evidentiary rules to govern the use of such testimony in administrative hearings.     

Expert evidence accountability: new developments and challenges

A series of developments in relation to the accountability of expert witnesses and the admissibility of their opinions is taking place. This extends to encroachments in the United Kingdom on expert witness immunity, the imposition of disciplinary liability for registered health practitioners in Australia and the United Kingdom, and recommendations from the United Kingdom Law Commission for a systematised procedure for reliability determination as a prerequisite for admissibility rulings. This combination of measures is indicative of international concern about the contemporary role of expert witnesses. It highlights the need for both empirical information about whether the anecdotal and experiential concerns about expert evidence are well-founded and for the provision of better and clearer guidance to experts and litigators alike about the underpinnings and methodologies that are permissible for admissible and probative expert opinions.     

法医物证学miRNA分析的研究进展

在种属和体液鉴定及降解检材等特殊案件的分析时,转录水平的miRNA所具有的生物属性及表达特点,使其能够发挥基因组DNA所不具备的价值。本文通过概述法医物证学miRNA研究的现状,对法医miRNA分析的研究策略和法医物证学应用前景进行了综述,以期为法医miRNA分析的应用研究提供借鉴。     

In Pursuit of an Expert Identity: A Case Study of Experts in the Historical Courtroom

There are certain areas of study where present-day semiotics of law can learn from history. This study examines the discursive history and historical courtroom discourse of expert witnesses in eighteenth-century American court. The aim of the study is to explore the use of linguistic strategies and resources in constructing an expert identity in relation to the factors which influence those choices. Instead of taking expertise as being lodged in the pre-given label, such as a doctor, this article argues that such an identity has to be constructed and negotiated, and reveals how such an identity is constructed and negotiated through trial talk during a hostile discursive environment. The historical courtroom is an interesting site in this regard, as it was the period when expert witnesses did not enjoy the same social status as their present-day peers, which came with the absence of discursive privileges as well. It is found that experts mainly relied on expansions of response as the resources to counterbalance skeptical attitudes and hostile attempts aimed to undermine their testimony that accompanied their vulnerable status and image and to gain discursive control during the interaction.     

Proper assessment of the JFK assassination bullet lead evidence from metallurgical and statistical perspectives

The bullet evidence in the JFK assassination investigation was reexamined from metallurgical and statistical standpoints. The questioned specimens are comprised of soft lead, possibly from full-metal-jacketed Mannlicher-Carcano (MC), 6.5-mm ammunition. During lead refining, contaminant elements are removed to specified levels for a desired alloy or composition. Microsegregation of trace and minor elements during lead casting and processing can account for the experimental variabilities measured in various evidentiary and comparison samples by laboratory analysts. Thus, elevated concentrations of antimony and copper at crystallographic grain boundaries, the widely varying sizes of grains in MC bullet lead, and the 5-60 mg bullet samples analyzed for assassination intelligence effectively resulted in operational sampling error for the analyses. This deficiency was not considered in the original data interpretation and resulted in an invalid conclusion in favor of the single-bullet theory of the assassination. Alternate statistical calculations, based on the historic analytical data, incorporating weighted averaging and propagation of experimental uncertainties also considerably weaken support for the single-bullet theory. In effect, this assessment of the material composition of the lead specimens from the assassination concludes that the extant evidence is consistent with any number between two and five rounds fired in Dealey Plaza during the shooting.     

Expert psychological testimony

Experimental psychologists increasingly are asked to give expert testimony in court, especially with regard to issues of eyewitness reliability. Whether or not experimental psychologists should give expert testimony on these matters is a controversial issue. The empirical literature suggests that potential jurors do not have a good understanding of the variables influencing eyewitness accuracy and that they cannot discriminate adequately between accurate and false eyewitness identification testimony. Experiments using expert testimony as a treatment variable, however, have not made a definitive case that expert testimony can benefit trial outcomes. The question of whether or not to give expert testimony must be broadened to consider not only the effects on verdicts but also the effects of expert testimony on the process by which verdicts are reached, the practices of police in subsequent investigations, the public's view of psychology, the practices of judges in subsequent cases, and the interaction between expert testimony and research activities.     

鉴定结论论

本文指出了我国民事鉴定存在的问题和对策 ;重点分析了民事鉴定机构和民事鉴定主体的条件、鉴定程序 ,并借鉴国外的立法和司法实践经验 ,对我国的民事鉴定立法提出了自己的看法。     

Scientific certainty: research versus forensic perspectives.

The scientific community and the judicial system are different components of society with different structures and functions. Nevertheless, science can contribute relevant and useful information to judicial deliberations if the inherent limitations of that information are understood. These limitations stem from the way the information is presented and perceived both by those who are providing it and those who are providing the context in which it is presented.     

英国专家证人制度对完善我国司法鉴定人制度之借鉴

英国的专家证人制度改革取得了重大成就,其中不乏能够反映两大法系相互借鉴、融合并形成优势的新内容.本文通过梳理英国专家证人制度的沿革和现状,结合我国的立法视角加以观察,提出可在司法鉴定机构职能、司法鉴定资源配置、司法鉴定程序启动和司法鉴定人出庭作证等方面,建设性地借鉴吸收英国专家证人制度的合理之处,以不断完善我国的鉴定人制度.     

注册资产评估师的专家义务与专家过失

近几年来,证券市场上公开批露的重大违规案例,很多都直接或间接与资产评估有关。本文拟对注册资产评估师的专家义务及其过失作些研讨,以期有益于我国侵权行为法相关制度的构建。一、注册资产评估师专家义务的特性从民事责任理论来看,注册资产评估师具有专家的法律特征。①其作为专家的义务与其作为一般市民的义务是完全不同的。注册资产评估师的专家义务,实际上包含了两大类,其一,约定义务,其二,专家义务。前者是在资产评估师与委托人所订立的资产评估服务合同中,如约定资产评估师必须在30日内完成评估报告书或者是约定资产评估师评估的范围…