Determining Vehicle Speed from a Video Recording
CCTV video is typically used to provide information about what occurred during a noted event and to assist in identifying people, vehicles, objects, etc. A less common but equally helpful use of CCTV video is to determine the speed of vehicles traveling through the field of view. This article summarizes the legal and...
Lay Witness or Expert Witness? Who Decides and Why Does it Matter?
Once the forensic video analysis work has been completed and the report has been written, the analyst may be called to court to testify to the work undertaken. The question then arises as to whether this evidence should be led as expert evidence or lay testimony. Who decides this question and why does...
Height Determination Through Photogrammetry: Expert Evidence Rejected by Court
When only one expert witness is presented at trial, the Court may find it difficult to critically evaluate the expert evidence. If the evidence is not controversial and both sides agree with the findings, this will be a non-issue. However, when the evidence is contentious, a one-sided presentation is more problematic. While skillful...
Cognitive Bias and Forensic Experts: Preserving Independence and Learning to Say No
Cognitive bias among forensic experts is a significant issue that can lead to unsupportable conclusions and miscarriages of justice when undetected. It may also result in the exclusion of evidence at trial that one of the parties was relying upon as a method of proof. Such was the case in a June 2023...