Essay on Crime Scene Investigation: Expert Witnesses & Serving Justice

Introduction

Crime scene investigation by several Federal states is of significant importance and tool for crime eradication and serving justice. The paper, therefore, attempts to outline the various elements involved when dealing with crimes and justice allocation. Furthermore, it impacts ideas on what should constitute the work of an expert witness and their roles collectively while in court or jury hearings. As such, it is essential to learn and appreciate the need for corrective measures to be undertaken for effective justice allocation and immediate action-taking. Crime reduction would, therefore, be paramount in any state hence need to provide courts with enough resources to counteract such measures. It would allow for a carefree society in which freedom and laws are part of everything, giving rise to increased favorable jurisdictions to particular sections needed for appropriate care reforms implementation and human rights adherence. In return, civilized societies can emerge and take hold in numerous states. (Paul et al., 2017).

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Meaning of an Expert Witness

An expert witness is anyone with valued experience and knowledge of a particular genre or discipline compared to a layman. His or her duty would include giving sworn evidence to the court or any tribunal an informed opinion of specific aspects of expertise that may be in dispute. His or her opinion on an ongoing case is of the paramount need for evidence acknowledgment and case analysis. They are opinion experts whose tasks are majorly required to be part of any case deemed essential to the state and that of others. An expert witness provides his or her opinion backed up by adequate facts that are needed when handling cases considered to be of public interest. Any resumptions on such can beget unforetold ventures that can help build up new laws for federal use and legalization. An expert witness would be required to comply with any specific procedural rules applied by any court or tribunal orders basing on a given case. Their opinions should be impartial, independent, and truthful whether or not they can favor a given situation in court.

Furthermore, they are expected to come up with opinions in the form of reports or evidence as it is a requirement onto which the court will form its basis. They are to provide independent expert opinion in line with their subject matter, and according to the instructions they are given. These instructions will be used to show that the expert witness opinion is in line with all regulations for all to see and use, including the court itself.

Who can be an Expert Witness

Basing on the Federal Rules of Evidence, a person qualifies to be an expert witness when they are deemed to have adequate knowledge, experience, education, and skills training in a specialized field. Their qualification is also based upon qualifications set by different state courts and their laws. These act as measures for governance and control on what should constitute as standard measures for any given state-federal rules. Expert witnesses, therefore, need to be a front giver when courts call for an expert opinion on cases deemed difficult. Extra efforts are also required to ensure that they are handled comfortably and bear resounding results to the benefit of the court and need for clients appealing wants. An expert witness can be employed or work under different capacities. For example, they can work as arbitrators, litigators, and even tribunals. Under federal laws, expert witnesses are supposed to base their testimony using sufficient data and facts that fellow experts can readily understand as it would be helpful to the jury's understanding of that common specialized knowledge. For issues deemed not seriously scientific, the judge can accept a given testimony as a fact stating that it is something of average person intelligence and can, therefore, be understood easily. Controversial issues also require the court to determine if the methods used for testing are reliable before admission of the expert's testimony. Such actions are aimed at looking for any rate of error when the testing was carried out, hence reliability of any scientific evidence must be acknowledged or accepted by the scientific community for it to be used in courts accordingly. The experts must be qualified candidates who can conduct the testing and give out the proof on what correct procedures were in use.

Restrictions placed on Expert Witnesses

They cannot act as anybody's negotiator or provide any advice. Their opinions are limited to their specific area of expertise. They are not allowed to accept any form of appointment, be it the terms offered may be conditional to the outcome of a given case. They cannot agree on any contractual terms with an expert in writing before the actual work starts. Moreover, they cannot accept any form of appointment that may involve any conflicting interest. They cannot be one's advocates hence cannot argue a case nor find any evidence that can suggest what consists of that particular case (Mestrovic, S.G. 2016).

Differences between Lay Witnesses and Expert Witnesses

Lay witnesses only base their opinions on cases based upon their observations while an expert witness bases their arguments by using skills and their knowledge when concluding. Ideas brought forward by lay witnesses are not scientific, technical, or of any specialized experience basing on Rule 702, while an expert witness opinion on a particular case has to meet all the scientific requirements. Both witnesses can be used effectively in court to create or extract any underlying conflicts to a lawsuit. Federal rules and amendments on justice needs are, therefore, critical determinants on what and why it is essential to take and make necessary agreements inlined with futuristic inclusion and impact to later cases

Daubert Rule in contrast with the Fyre Standard

In accordance to the Fyre Standard, the scientific community is used as an opinion directive determining any evidence admissibility, in that if the scientific community accepts a given theory or method, the court is obliged to admit this as evidence. The implication pertains courts only considering an issue once upon finding an agreed-upon general acceptance without revisiting admissibility for other cases. The Daubert Rule uses the judge as a critical determinant of evidence admissibility and not the scientific community since the values can be reevaluated based on any additional error rates or further peer-reviewed publications. Case evaluation is, therefore, possible and not using single admissibility findings in theory. Thus, each state has a Rule of Evidence that defines the rules under which an expert can testify. As such, I would be in support of the Daubert Rule as expert witnesses are expected to use their field expertise and knowledge gained to make an informed opinion. Expert witnesses can thereby incline their ideas on court matters based upon following given set standards for appropriate actioning of their specialized fields. The same can be done with the view of imposing court decisions based on their summary and futuristic cause on latter cases and resumption of any previous tests and admissibility of evidence to help promulgate further need assessment (Tresallet et al., 2019).

Conclusion

Expert witnesses are essential elements during case evaluations and justice promulgation in any state and federal rule. It enables adequate actions to be taken and foreseen misunderstandings to be rectified, and appropriate action is taken. Laws and jurisdictions imposed by any states should, therefore, promote equitable workings and understanding of case analysis and court hearings. The is a need for proper knowledge on what different state laws propose and their need for expert or lay opinions towards matters deemed necessary for the states and overall importance on people's needs and collective wants. A reformed judicial system paves the way for laws eradication based on what is deemed inappropriate. New laws and federal issuing become a significant milestone in determining the possible course of action to be taken and implementing the necessary provisions to support and promulgate these ideas and much more, giving rise to a free society with stringent laws.

References

Mestrovic, S. G. (2016). Trials of Abu Ghraib: An Expert Witness Account of Shame and Honor. Routledge.

Paul, S. R., & Narang, S. K. (2017). Expert witness participation in civil and criminal proceedings. Pediatrics, 139(3), e20163862.

Tresallet, C., Cardin, J. L., Belghiti, J., Cortes, A., & Martinod, E. (2019). Expert witness testimony step by step and how to prepare it. Journal of visceral surgery.