Essay On Expert Witness

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The use of an expert witness can be traced back to the 18 century where a professional was first called by an attorney to testify to the court and give their opinion on legal matters. Due to the experts testimony in the case the judge felt confident in choosing what the outcome should be in the case. Since then expert witnesses have assisted in numerous court cases. The practice of expert witnessing has been steadily increasing because of the extensive growth and knowledge in scientific fields and technology, thus the need for experts to resolve legal disputes where lay people would have little or no knowledge (Berger). Today “Expert witnesses are used in a wide range of litigation and their opinions are often viewed as critical—frequently they can make or break a case. As a result, many trials have turned into a battle of the experts. Yet despite their importance, few attorneys take the time to utilize the proper resources to find the right experts, evaluate their credentials, and/or assess the admissibility of their testimony” (Brennan, Dilenschneider, Levin & Robinson, 2009 pg. 4). This essay will overview the role of an expert witness, how to determine credibility of an expert, their effect the court system, and steps that can be taken to ensure quality and honestly in expert testimony
The job description of an expert witness is, a person that can bring specialized knowledge to a case that aids in determining the outcome. “An expert witness is one allowed to provide opinion testimony” (Hutchinson, 2012, pg. 2). Expert witnesses are called upon to give testimony on various areas and subjects “expert testimony is extremely broad, ranging from at trial based upon his or her specialized knowledge, training or expertise,...

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...uld be “double-blind proficiency tests for forensic scientists” (Bernstein, pg. 462). Another improvement to the system would be creating private independent forensic laboratories, Great Britain and parts of Australia have already implemented this in their practice. Creating several labs in on jurisdiction would remedy the monopoly and create competition; the competition between the different labs may create quality in the terms that each lab will want to produce the best work possible. Sending evidence to various labs could also control the quality of results divergent among the different forensic scientist would be investigated to see where the discrepancy may be. The creation of a nationalized forensic institute, that purpose is to validate and test methodologies and technologies that will create a standardization of data interpretation (Bernstein, pg.462).

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