Several expert witnesses have taken the stand in the sentencing trial for Nikolas Cruz, the school shooter of the horrific 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school. The job of the expert witnesses is to determine if Cruz has underlying mental health issues that may have caused him to act out in the violent mass shooting. We will …

Expert witnesses are key players in a criminal trial who use their specific skills, expertise, knowledge, education, or training to offer an opinion that is relevant to a specific issue in a case. The purpose of rendering this opinion is to aid the trier of fact, either the judge or the jury, in coming to an overall decision regarding the …

Although each criminal case is different from the next, one commonality among criminal cases is that they often involve the use of an expert witness. An expert witness will use their scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge to assist the trier of fact in reaching a decision. To read more about expert witnesses, as well as the other two kinds …

Despite common confusion, there is a difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist. The same is true for an expert witness in a criminal case. Both a forensic psychologist and a forensic psychiatrist can be used to aid in the defense of a criminal defendant. In simple terms, a psychologist does not have any medical training, but has training and …

Human factors is a science that asks the age-old question – why do people do what they do? Human factor expert witnesses can come from a variety of backgrounds and serve the same purpose as every other expert retained in a criminal trial, to assist the trier of fact in reaching a decision. Now you may be thinking, how can …

An expert witness, whether testifying for the defense or prosecution, plays a key role in a criminal case by assisting the judge or jury in reaching a decision. There are countless kinds of expert witnesses, but as technology has evolved and grown exponentially, computer forensic experts have become critical in cases involving electronic devices. Technological developments have led to new …

A forensic interview is a single interview, usually recorded, that is designed specifically to allow children to discuss claims about their own abuse or another’s abuse. These interviews are meant to be empathetic, supportive, and completely objective to elicit only honest responses from the child and avoid answers predicated on suggestive techniques. These interviews are often essential for the prosecution …

What is Accident Reconstruction? Accident reconstruction is as simple as it sounds – the scene of an accident is reconstructed using certain methods and processes in order to create a timeline of what happened during an accident, where it happened, when, and why it unfolded in the way it did. Reconstructing an accident assists the judge or jury in determining …