Forensics
- Forensic Evidence
- Preserving the Crime Scene
- Autopsy
- Interview Witnesses
- Coercing Confessions
- False Confessions
- Fingerprint Evidence
- Gunshot Wounds
- Child Homicide
- Drowning
- DNA Evidence
- Accident Reconstruction
- Forensic Botany
- Forensic Dentistry
- Trace Evidence
- Digital Evidence
- Forensic Photography
- Collecting Evidence
- Toxicology
Forensic Experts
Forensics is not limited to the sciences, though many forensic experts work in the sciences. Forensic experts may be retained to analyze almost any type of evidence and explains its significance to those working within the judicial system. A criminal defense lawyer may utilize forensic experts specializing in criminalistics, pathology, serology, photography, ballistics, odontology, botany, psychology, and toxicology, among others.
A forensic expert usually possesses an advanced degree, such as an M.D. or a Ph.D. in his particular field. He is, however, more than an individual with an impressive resume. He has usually worked for years or decades within his chosen field and possesses a basic to advanced understanding of the legal system, including the relevant legal standards. While a forensic expert must be able to explain the complexities of the evidence in plain, understandable – and sometimes persuasive – language to juries, he is not an advocate for either side. Indeed, a forensic expert’s only allegiance is to the truth.
Though an attorney may retain to a forensic expert to testify at trial, forensic experts provide a variety of services to lawyers. For example, a criminal defense attorney may employ a forensic pathologist to determine whether the medical examiner conducted a proper and thorough autopsy and correctly identified the cause of death, and/or assist him with the preparation of his cross-examination of the medical examiner. Criminal defense attorneys often fail to fully utilize forensic experts in their pre-trial preparation, choosing instead to wade into battle with the government’s experts essentially unarmed. An experienced and tough forensic expert will absolutely humiliate an unprepared cross-examiner.
To testify on behalf of either the defense or the prosecution, the forensic expert must satisfy the judge that he possess the necessary credentials to offer an opinion on the evidence. Forensic experts are the only witnesses – or participants in the trial – permitted to offer opinions. In contrast, though lawyers are allowed to argue the facts, they prohibited from offering personal opinions on the evidence or the guilt or innocence of the accused.
At the Mahoney Criminal Defense Group, we have worked extensively with some of the nation’s most respected forensic experts in the fields of pathology, criminology, toxicology, botany, photography, ballistics, arson investigation, and psychology. The forensic information we include on our site is provided as a public service. These articles are not dissertations, but pithy summaries. For a more complete description of the areas covered, readers should read the books and articles referenced at the end of some pages.
TOPRelentless
Criminal
Cross-Examination
“Aside from its excerpts of cross-examination, the book offers extremely valuable wisdom regarding overarching trial strategies (e.g., defense counsel demeanor; tone, tenor, and timing; why you should not call defense witnesses; etc.) The wisdom offered is alone extremely ..."
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