What is an Expert Witness?

An expert witness is someone who works in a particular profession and they are considered an expert within their field. For example an expert witness for the fingerprint analysis industry will have a wealth of experience within the fingerprint industry understanding all types of fingerprinting techniques, variations in dna results and a sound knowledge of how to comment on fingerprinting enquiries to both the press and legal teams. This individual must have more knowledge in their field than the average individual in order to be considered an expert.
Both defence and prosecution legal teams who hire expert witnesses to testify for their side may ask a series of questions to determine if the expert witness is the best one for them to achieve a specific outcome or analyse evidence in a particular way.

Types of expert witnesses?

There are two main types of expert witnesses. They are the testifying experts and the non-testifying experts.

A testifying expert witness is seen as a communicator within court room proceedings. They are usually out in front of everyone to see and any documentation that they present to support the side they are testifying for will expose what they have said about the case. It is a rule of thumb within the expert witness industry not to not to write on the documents being analysed as the other side can see what they have written. This could hurt the case if the witness has expressed any sort of personal opinion on those documents which could then be cross examined.

The second type of expert witness is the non-testifying expert witness. These are expert witnesses that are hired by one of the sides in the case to evaluate the case. For instance, a lawyer may hire an expert witness doctor to look over a malpractice suit to see if something was out of the usual when a certain procedure was performed. There may be causes in which a nurse practitioner may be called as well to evaluate documents in regards to a medical case.

The non-testifying expert is the individual who is protected. They are not usually discovered like those who must sit in front of the jury and the court and testify regarding a case. The non-testifying expert doesn't have to be known, but the documentation that they participated in will be shown.

The importance of specialisation

It is important that an expert witness has a specialisation when it comes to legal analysis and expert witness services in court. Although most expert witnesses have been involved in a particular profession, there may be an area of that profession that they specialise in. This is important to solicitors when choosing an expert witness, it is important that the witness specialises in the area the lawyer needs help in analysing and presenting. It is not enough to just work in that particular field.

How important are expert witnesses?
Expert witnesses can prove to be pivotal during cases as their opinions can make or break key evidence brought to trial. Without the contribution of expert witnesses there would be innocent people in prison and guilty parties running free. It is their testimony that can help determine whether or not an individual committed the crime which can be life changing.

If you require any type of expert witness service or require further information on expert witness analysis please contact Forensic Resources Ltd on 02920 647 043.