Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Engineering Expert Witness: What You Should Know

By Andrew Stevens


Attorneys usually support the introduction of an expert witness in a court case for either side. Most of them argue that an engineering expert witness can help explain the technical case over and above the legal jargon and theories. This makes it easy for those determining the case to understand the facts better and pass judgment.

An expert witness is usually defined as a person who has a lot of knowledge, understanding, and training beyond the average person. This is most likely a professional with specialized skills. He or she can, therefore, relate to a case and evaluate the technical part of the case and offer a valid assessment.

An engineer acting as an expert witness needs to be accepted by the court. He or she should be in a position to testify under oath regarding the technical details of a case. Thereafter provide his or her opinion or conclusion about the matter in question.

The expert witness should be ready to accept the opinions that may be derived from his or her testimony. That is why it is important for him or her to have enough information regarding the case being determined. This allows the professional to provide and draw a conclusion that is valid for the case.

The expert witness is never allowed to argue any facts regarding the case. He or she is also not allowed to provide any evidence of the case. This is a task left to the other witnesses or even the police. He or she is only allowed to clarify the technicalities and help the judge or jury understand the matters in the case better.

In most court scenarios, both sides of the case, whether the defense or prosecution will bring in an expert witness to support either side. The professionals need to be loyal to their knowledge regarding the technology rather than either side in the case. Their work is to help the judge and jury get an accurate assessment of the technical matter in the case. The jury or judge will thereafter determine if the technical witness was helpful in analyzing the facts of the case.

Anyone seeking to be an engineer expert witness needs to have a strong technical relationship with the matter in the case. This kind of witness is preferred since he or she has technical education and knowledge. An academic witness who has never been outside of a classroom may not be ideal as they do not have the practical and technical education to support the theory.

The defense and prosecution attorney has the discretion of engaging any expert they think will help them win the case. Once the attorney identifies the expert witness, he or she must get the qualifications and all credentials for the expert to present them to court before the witness can testify. The judge and jury will need this information to be able to allow the opinion of the expert witness to be used to determine the judgment.




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