Researching The Expert: January 2009 Archives

Tony Link, a Mesa County, CO, attorney told District Judge Brian Flynn that budget constraints at the state level could impact the defense in a murder case. Link was appointed to represent 33-year-old Charles McEachern who is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of 3-year-old Miranda Bacathat.

Link says the state-funded Office of Alternate Defense Counsel (ADC) may soon start “limiting” dollars available to hire expert witnesses to testify at trial. GJPress also reports Link said he was made aware of the situation in a recent conversation with the local representative of the ADC program. “Potentially, it can impact how we approach cases,” the attorney said after a hearing. “ADC has been very fair in making sure people get a good defense.”

In Hawaii Wrongful Death Claim, attorney Wayne Parsons writes on the evidence needed to prove fault in a wrongful death case:

In order to win a wrongful death lawsuit, you must be able to prove that the person accused of wrongful death had an obligation or duty to act in a certain way, and by failing to do so, caused the victim's death.

The burden of proof in wrongful death cases is a "preponderance of the evidence." This means you only have to show that it is more likely than not that the defendant's actions led to the death of your loved one. This is considerably less than the burden of proof in a criminal case, where you need to prove guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Evidence needed to prove fault in a wrongful death case includes testimony from witnesses who saw the incident, wrote medical reports, engineering expert reports and police reports. In cases involving medical malpractice, boating accidents, defective products, vehicle safety, or construction site safety, you will also need testimony from an expert witness.

Excerpted from InjuryBoard.com.

In Key Factors In-House Counsel Need To Know When Selecting A Forensic Expert, John J. Scott and Hutch Hubbard write:

Although experienced expert witnesses are quite familiar with the requirements of Daubert and the Federal Rules, it is important for corporate counsel to remain aware of the issues. This is of particular importance throughout the selection process.

Your expert should provide full disclosure as to theories and methodology in preparing his or her report. There may not be an opportunity to supplement a report that provides too little at the onset. Discuss with your expert whether the work described in his or her report could be duplicated by another expert in the same field. Finally, ensure that your expert is thorough in disclosing all of the material considered, and ask your expert to address the obvious objections by specifying the reasons competing techniques were rejected, and why they deemed unhelpful or otherwise did not rely on data that might have been considered pertinent.

For more, see MetropolitanCorporateCounsel.