Next Online Courtroom Testimony for Expert Witnesses Course Announced: June 1-3, 2026
The online Courtroom Testimony for Expert Witnesses course has continually been a great success! We have had participants from across Canada and the US, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, and New Zealand. The ability to learn from the instructor and from each other in this dynamic and informative course is unparalleled. The online...
Next Online Courtroom Testimony for Expert Witnesses Course Announced: TBD
The online Courtroom Testimony for Expert Witnesses course has continually been a great success! We have had participants from across Canada and the US, the UK, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand. The ability to learn from the instructor and from each other in this dynamic and informative course is unparalleled. The online format has proven...
The Pedagogical Expert Witness: Teaching Complex Science in the Courtroom
The following article, applicable to experts in all areas of expertise, was written by me in conjunction with my Courtroom Testimony for Expert Witnesses course and will soon be published in the Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal. It will be available on an Open Access basis and once published, it will be...
Image Comparison Evidence in the UK: Have Things Changed?
I research, write, and lecture about international imagery law. In preparation for upcoming courses in the UK this summer, I was reviewing recent case law and came across a March 2022 case from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) that piqued my interest. It is consistent with previous case law but appears to...
Use of Force Expert Prohibited from Expressing Opinion on Video Evidence
Jackson v. Catanzariti, 2019 WL 2098991 (U. S. District Court, S.D. Georgia), is a case wherein former prison inmates sued correctional officers for violating their constitutional right to be free from excessive use of force while they were incarcerated. The plaintiffs contended that video evidence supported their complaints of excessive use of force....
What Should an Expert do with Information Received that is Contrary to the Proffered Opinion?
Experts rarely work in epistemic silos, out of touch with other experts. Indeed, it is a hallmark of expert evidence that experts are allowed to rely upon and state hearsay evidence in their reports and testimony. It follows that communication amongst experts is common and generally something that should be encouraged. This article addresses the issue...
Recommendations for Expert Image Comparison Evidence in the United Kingdom in Light of the FSR Regulatory Notice “Image Enhancement and Image Comparison: Provision of Opinion”
Introduction I attended the meeting of the Forensic Digital Media Analysis Working Group, organized and presented by the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, in Birmingham, UK on October 21, 2019. One of the topics discussed was the state of general image comparison evidence in the UK in light of the FSR’s Regulatory Notice 01/2019...
Case Study: Facial Recognition Evidence Premised on Surveillance Video Rejected Due to Unreliability
A recent California case provides yet another illustration of how conclusions premised on the analysis of images obtained from surveillance video must be reached by people who have forensic video analysis training and how it is the role of the court to deny admissibility to unreliable expert evidence. In State of California v....
Case Study: Trial Judge Performs Image Comparison When Crown Fails to Present Expert Evidence
In R. v. Ermine, 2018 SKQB 77 (Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench), the trial judge was placed in the position of having to conduct his own video analysis because the Crown failed to call the necessary expert evidence. In this case, three individuals robbed a bar. Two of the robbers pled guilty earlier and...
In Search of the Truth: Why Experts Matter
During my career as a Crown Prosecutor, my goal has been to ascertain the truth as to what happened in any given incident because it is only upon discovering the truth that we can strive for justice, however illusive that goal may be to achieve in practice. In search of the truth, it...