Courtroom Presentation & Testimony Flashcards

When an expert witness is sequestered under a court's witness exclusion order, they may generally still:

Answer: Review trial transcripts of prior testimony while sequestered

While sequestered experts cannot observe live testimony, they may typically review transcripts of testimony already given when permitted by the court.

In preparing for cross-examination, a forensic consultant should anticipate the 'three Bs' of cross-examination attacks, which target:

Answer: Bias, basis, and blunders (errors)

Skilled cross-examiners typically attack expert bias (financial or other), the basis of opinions, and errors or blunders in the expert's work.

A forensic consultant is asked to render opinions on a topic slightly outside their core expertise but within an adjacent discipline they have studied. The appropriate action is to:

Answer: Disclose the limits of their expertise and opine only to the extent their knowledge reliably supports

Experts must be transparent about the boundaries of their expertise and limit opinions to areas where they have reliable knowledge.

The 'ultimate issue' rule, as modified in the Federal Rules of Evidence, allows expert witnesses to:

Answer: Express opinions on ultimate factual issues, but not on legal conclusions reserved for the court

FRE 704 permits expert opinions on ultimate factual issues but prohibits stating pure legal conclusions (e.g., 'the defendant was negligent as a matter of law').

When a forensic consultant's opinion rests on data provided by others that was not independently verified, the expert should:

Answer: Disclose the reliance on third-party data and acknowledge the limitation that it was not independently verified

FRE 703 permits reliance on data not independently verified if experts in the field reasonably rely on such data, but this reliance must be disclosed.

Which courtroom demeanor characteristic most consistently undermines expert credibility with jurors, according to trial research?

Answer: Appearing defensive, argumentative, or condescending toward attorneys

Research consistently shows that defensive or condescending expert behavior damages juror trust more than almost any substantive challenge to methodology.

A forensic consultant retained as a non-testifying consulting expert later becomes a testifying expert on the same case. This transition:

Answer: May require disclosure of all prior work product previously protected as consulting-expert material

Converting a consulting expert to a testifying expert can waive work-product protection for materials previously prepared in the consulting role.