You have worked in a regional crime scene unit for four years. The team recently hired three graduates from a Professional Certification Organization for Crime Scene Investigators. The three graduates’ specialties are firearms identification, blood spatter pattern analysis, and fingerprint comparison. You have been working under their respective specialty supervisors for several years and have been involved in research and live case work.
They have never testified on their own as expert witnesses and they have come to you asking what the credentials are to become an expert witness in a case and who makes the decision that they are an expert witness for that trial.
They also want to know, once they are found to be an expert witness in a trial, does it mean they are automatically considered to be an expert for the same subject in the next trial that they must testify in?
Address their concerns by answering the following:
- What are two qualifying conditions that you would recommend the graduates pursue in order to be considered an expert witness in a trial? Why do you believe that these two conditions are important?
- Review other student’s answers. Use your discussion board response to share which of their qualifying conditions would you add to yours and explain why.
- You are at a friend’s party speaking to someone you just met. They seem interested in knowing how expert witnesses work. How would you explain to them the process of becoming an expert witness and how it applies to different trials?
Connect to Content: At least one post must refer to course learning materials. See the Academic Resource on Discussion Boards for help with connecting to the content.
