Experts trained as witnesses
By Yoko Ito-Peterson
Daily Forty-Niner
Cal State Long Beach has a solution for
unlicensed experts.
The CSULB Expert Witnesses Certification
Program, a 10-week course for those interested in formalizing their particular
expertise for giving courtroom testimony, is the first step toward a standard
licensing process, said Penni Wells, program coordinator.
As expert witnesses can make or break a
case, "the class is designed to allow every expert to give the best testimony
and to understand the legal system and the importance of different elements
in a trial," Wells said.
For example, a scientist with expertise
in DNA technology can learn the basics of court proceedings, which may
make him or her more attractive to lawyers looking to pay for expert testimony.
The project started a year ago when the
Forensic Consultants Association of Orange County, a group founded five
years ago by judges and lawyers, approached University College and Extension
Services to create a program for professional expert witnesses.
"We developed the program in cooperation
with local judges, attorneys and law enforcement," Wells said.
During the program, participants review
ethics, law, communication, the liability of experts, testimony preparation
and basic business practices, according to a CSU press release.
A mock trial is held in the Orange County
Superior Courtroom and is videotaped, Wells said.
Eight different instructors, who act as
speakers and two judges, teach the program, she said.
Contracting one's expertise is also a part
of the program, Wells said. Many of the participants who obtained the certificate
have been able to secure paying expert witness stints.
So far, about 75 people, mostly business
professionals in their early 40s to late 60s, finished the program, Wells
said.
"Overall it [the program] makes you a better,
more effective part of the justice system," said Don Neff, an expert in
construction and one of the program's first graduates, in the press release.
The Expert Witnesses program is offered
twice a year. The next session will begin in March 2000. |
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