NCJ Number
153250
Date Published
1995
Length
1304 pages
Annotation
This book is designed to help trial lawyers understand the scope of the most commonly encountered types of expert testimony, and the nature of the results which may be expected from expert witnesses.
Abstract
The first part of the book covers general concepts underlying the use of expert opinion testimony, the use of real and demonstrative evidence, and opinion testimony of skilled witnesses who testify routinely in DUI and speeding cases. The second part of the book consists of chapters discussing expert testimony based upon the physical sciences, relating to document examinations, firearms and toolmark evidence, arson and explosives investigations, fingerprint identification, trace evidence, and voice spectrographic recognition investigations. The third part focuses on the biological and life sciences and their impact on expert testimony: forensic pathology, toxicological examinations of biological fluids, drug analysis, and forensic odontology. The final section covers aspects of expert testimony in the behavioral sciences, namely, evidence related to forensic psychiatry, psychology, and neurology, as well as the proliferation of syndrome evidence. Chapter references