CFC Courtroom Presentation & Testimony 5

Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

Review trial transcripts of prior testimony while sequestered

Answer

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

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

Bias, basis, and blunders (errors)

Answer

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

Question 3

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:

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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').

Question 5

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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.

(CFC) Certified Forensic Consultant Practice Test

(CFC) Certified Forensic Consultant Practice Test

CFC Courtroom Presentation & Testimony 5