NCJ Number
162315
Journal
Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: (July-December 1995) Pages: 53-58
Date Published
1995
Length
6 pages
Annotation
After reviewing some Australian cases that have involved convictions due to false and misleading expert testimony, this article discusses some essential factors in the preparation and presentation of accurate expert evidence.
Abstract
It is rare that cross-examination or other expert evidence will reveal faulty expert evidence. It is important for forensic experts to come to correct conclusions in the first place. The essentials for accurate expert evidence are skill, care, impartiality and independence, adequate facilities, an experimental attitude, and careful expression of conclusions reached. It is most essential that reasonably paid and highly skilled persons should do the scientific work that may be responsible for the conviction of a citizen. Further, the highest standards of care and investigation should apply to tests that may result in a person being imprisoned for life. Impartiality and independence should be an essential part of the training of a forensic scientist. Experts involved in a cause rather than a search for truth are not qualified to be witnesses in a criminal trial. The laboratory facilities and equipment should be of the highest quality for those whose scientific analyses can determine whether a citizen is imprisoned or set free. There is no substitute for scientific experimentation as the basis for the presentation of expert evidence. Too much expert evidence is given on the basis of theory rather than testing. Finally, the conclusions of experts should be carefully expressed, lest the conclusion as expressed be wrong. Experts must be careful not to go beyond their expertise nor present as fact information not based in reliable scientific experimentation that has used the best available facilities and equipment. 2 references