FIVS 415 Through Exam 3

Law

A system of rules that governs society

Civil

Being sued, "more likely than not" "50.1%"

Criminal

Accused of a crime, "beyond a reasonable doubt"

Role of an expert

Apply expertise and give professional opinion in a court of law (can also interpret evidence and keep others accountable)

Expert witness

Can offer opinions

Fact witness

Can only testify on what they saw (5 senses)

Factors that impact a jury's opinion on an expert

Education, appearance, experience, fees

Case Distribution

Prosecution/Defense ratio (want it to be ~ 50/50)

Direct Examination

Attorney that hired/retained you is asking you questions

Cross/Indirect Examination

Opposing counsel is asking you questions

Originalist

Someone who looks at law and takes it as it is written, now how it can be applied to the current day/situation

Frye v. United States 1923

Wanted to add a pre-polygraph test to testimony but was not accepted because it wasn't "generally accepted"

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals 1993

Frye doesn't include/allow FRE 702, wanted to include new types of studies/science

FRE 702

Federal rules of evidence 702, Witness that is qualified in education, knowledge, experties, skill, or training can provide opinion on a subject

Criteria of Daubert

Testable, Peer-reviewed, Known error rate, known standards/methods, generally accepted "in relevant scientific community" (that part is frye but more specific)

All federal courts use _______, States can choose between _____ or _______

Daubert, frye or daubert

Bendectin

The drug used in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals

Voir Dire

Checking qualifications of expert witness or admitting evidence

General Electric v. Joiner 1997

Higher courts defer to lower court decisions

Kumho Tire v. Carmichael 1999

Judges are gatekeeper for ALL expert testimony, not just scientific expert testimony

Brady Evidence

Prosecution MUST hand over all evidence to defense, BUT defense doesn't have to give over all evidence (like a report that doesn't favor their side)

Relevance

Data, method, or expert that provides insight to the case at hand

Reliability

Conclusions drawn are the correct answer, can be data, method, or expert (dependable for investigation)

Accuracy

How often you get the CORRECT answer

Precision

Degree of variation, consistency of response

Consulting Witness

Offers guidance to attorneys on things to ask the opposing expert (cheaper)

Testimonial Witness

Will be on the stand, gives opinions

Material Witness

Same as fact witness

Legal Resolution

Interpretation of law depends on where you are

Deductive

Broad observations lead to specific conclusions

Inductive

Specific observations leads to broad conclusions

Circumstantial

Ento, someone fleeing on foot from police

Individualization

DNA, Chemistry, mark evidence, etc

Correlate

Relationship between 2 variables

Cause

One results in the other

Science is TRUTH

Juries are skeptical of science, especially with news

Pseudoreplication

Drawing conclusions from an individual sample

Carl Popper

Philosopher, helps with Daubert, Falsifiability

Black Swan Hypothesis

Can say "all swans are white" but just 1 black swan ruins it

Living document

Interpreting law based on society today

Paradigm

Concept that evolves over time, not independent of origin

Revolution

A new way of thinking independent of previous concepts

Confirmation Bias

Drawing conclusions that support one's own beliefs

Peripheral Processing

Using mental shortcuts to draw conclusions (emotion)

Central Processing

Using data to draw conclusions

Internal Validation

Error rate associated with the laboratory itself

External Validation

Error rate across all labs

Anchoring effect

Sticking heavily with your first opinion regardless of evidence

Blue Ribbon Jury

Jury comprised of educated people, trained to be jurors

T/F? Daubert = Judge is gatekeeper

F

Which 3 witnesses can render an opinion?

Expert, testimonial, consulting

Which 2 witnesses can only provide facts?

Fact, material

Individualizing Evidence

Can be traced back to a single source, by itself links evidence to a scene

Circumstantial evidence

Collectively (with other evidence) connects someone to a scene

Junk Science

Doesn't say much to a case, based on bad research

Qualitative

Descriptions, categorical info

Quantitative

Numbers, values, etc.

A Priori

Read literature, develop hypothesis, make methods, test

A Posteriori

Make hypotheses after collecting data

Hired Gun

Someone who is paid to say something for their side