Expert Witness Testimonies

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Expert witness testimonies must be scientific, technical, and specifically relevant that will acknowledge the trier of fact to define evidence and determine the fact of the issue. Evidence obtained by expert witness’s must be based off of sufficient facts produced by applicable, reliable, principles and methods. In response to Daubert v. Merrill Daw Pharmaceuticals ( 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and other cases applying the Daubert standard. Under the Daubert standard the expert’s theory must be testable, the technique or theory has been publicized or subject to peer review, obtained a rate of error and success, and the theory must be generally accepted in the scientific community. The United States v Bonds requires expert evidence to hold ‘scientific validity” not “scientific precision” to be admitted. Scientific precision is a repeated experiment of samples and the degree which we would expect multiple measurements to prove similar results at trial. However, Scientific validity refers to the multiple sampling process of the actual evidence in question and it’s common and repeating features based on the evidence measured. In United States v. Bonds, (12 F.3d 540 (6th Cir. 1993), criminal defendant John Ray Bonds challenged the DNA method of identification used by experts in the prosecution. Bonds argued DNA evidence did not meet the requirements to be accepted as admissible evidence and there were more accurate methods of obtaining DNA evidence that would prove accurate results or reversible errors. On February 27th ,1988, three individuals Wayne Yee, Mark Verdi, and John Ray Bonds, were indicted on conspiracy and federal firearm offenses in connection to the murder of David Hartlaub, who was shot outside a bank in Perkins, Ohio. At trial the state moved to prove that the individuals had purposely killed Hartlaub for reasons concerning the Hell’s Angels and the Outlaws gang rivalry. The defendants claimed that the case involved mistaken identity and that the court had erred in admitting expert witness testimony pertaining to DNA evidence at trial. The errors questioned DNA evidence’s “general acceptance” and judicial procedure. The defense argued that the DNA evidence was not …show more content…
The number of matching alleles detected in DNA samples like blood found at the crime scene proves the probable association between the suspect’s sample and the crime-scene sample (Turman, 2001). Because DNA evidence was fairly new, the magistrate judge then conducted a six-week hearing using the Frye rule and the introduction of two hundred exhibits relating to the FBI’s methods. The issue at trial was to determine if the proposed DNA evidence violated the defendants 6th amendment rights and if it is generally accepted in the scientific community. During the trial hearing the government employed six expert witnesses and called Dr.Eric Lander as the courts witness. The government provided expert witness Dr. Caskey, a forensic DNA scientist, who operates the FBI procedures for DNA identification in a major genetics laboratory. At the time of trial, the FBI’s methods had not yet been published in a peer review journal. However, the supreme court labelled the FBI’s procedure for DNA identification had technically employed peer review within the scientific community due to the multiple times DNA identification was tested by multiple experts. Under the Daubert standard the evidence concerned is not just reliable because of reasoning and current scientific validity but instead on valid methods, principles, and

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