Communication Skills, Tools, and Expert Witness Testimony in Forensic Psychology, Essay Example

Courts give subpoenas to people and order them to appear at a specific place, time, and date to testify as a witness about a typical criminal case. The court delivers the subpoena in person, and if you are not parties to the point, a witness receives an attendance fee and transportation (Barsky, 2015). A forensic evaluator helps the court examine specific mental health aspects within a legal context. People receive court-orders therapy if their mental illness or addiction puts them and people around them at risk (Barsky, 2015). The court may ask their therapist to share relevant information to help in a case.

A person must prepare for the cross-examination and conduct research on the expert’s qualification before the testifying experience. For instance, a person can check their expert’s prior testimony like a similar case with conflicting Sicario to understand them (Brodsky, 2012). In addition, a cross-examiner can box in the expert at deposition, whereby an examiner asks the expert the exact questions they intend to ask during the trial in the deposition (Barsky, 2015). Finally, attack the potential biases like their financial biases by analyzing the number of courts they have testified in and the expertise that they claim to have.

Testimony in a hearing occurs in a courtroom, while the deposition occurs in the attorney’s office at the lawsuit’s discovery phase. In a deposition, the witness will still answer questions in a friendly manner, and it’s when a person learns of their attorney’s question ad how well to answer the in court (Barsky, 2015). Therefore, an attorney could help understand the question and the best answers in a deposition to avoid ambushes affecting the court trial. However, in a trial, the expert cannot receive any help (Brodsky, 2012). Also, an attorney will prepare their witness to answer opposing counsel questions even though not with specific wording while in a deposition. In contrast, in the trial, the expert receives no external assistance.

A report must have the correct language and structure of a legal statement. The text must use straightforward language to capture the reader’s attention. For instance, a lawyer can outline all the points they will cover in the paper and check past reports to avoid repetition (Brodsky, 2012). The body of the report must contain a summary of the evidence, facts, and arguments. It must be fair, unbiased, and without disputes. (Barsky, 2015) Additionally, the report should have questions presented in court, short answers, a detailed discussion, a statement of facts, and a clear, concise conclusion.

The expert’s report must use simple terms that people can easily comprehend and give facts about how mental illness can affect the judgment of witnesses. Give a guide of keywords they would use in the report and explain the medical terms into a user-friendly word to encourage understanding (Brodsky, 2012). The expert must also avoid using medical abbreviations that make a description tedious and complicated while reading. These techniques would encourage the readers to read the report to the end without seeking external expertise.

The expert needs to understand the facts of the case with absolute mastery. Experts that fumble while writing the report give an opponent the chance to manipulate their ideas, and it could cause them a proceeding (Brodsky, 2012). While preparing for the testimonial, the expert must identify knowledgeable people within the jury. For instance, there is a doctor in the jury in a medical case, and therefore, the testimonial must engage them to increase their winning chance (Brodsky, 2012). Finally, the expert must show that they are still active and learning to give them an advantage of wisdom, experience, and age.

An expert should be credible before the jury, and the judge as their expertise might break or make a legal case. An expert should be active in a professional association. For instance, an expert in material science can participate in events that science organizations present to build their knowledge (Brodsky, 2012). An expert can cultivate relationships by networking with other learned people. Finally, an expert must keep up with advancements in their field (Barsky, 2015). Most attorneys expect that their experts lead in the current advances in their subject matter to enhance professionalism.

An expert with sufficient knowledge of a case can clarify their testimony and moderate the assertiveness that could manipulate the jurors and judge to support them. In addition, the jurors and the judge can easily recognize a trustworthy expert through they articulate their facts, which can positively affect the testimony to their advantage (Brodsky, 2012). Finally, the ability of an expert to exude charisma and dynamism is crucial in testifying (Brodsky, 2012). A person who takes time to explain themselves displays deep passion in their words, which keeps the jurors interested in their content.

Different law reports appear to introduce new principles and rules, and the judge and the jury need to consider them separately. The law reports represent cases and understanding its content needs that responsible people have enough time and information to process them (Brodsky, 2012). The law report has a different hierarchy, which means they have specific authorization to handle them (Barsky, 2015). The information must be factual, the discussion must be relevant to the case, and the experts’ questions must be in the report to make it effective. Examples of law reports are a weekly law report with the council’s arguments and an All-England Law Report.

Trial consultants offer defense attorneys or prosecutors expert advice in a specific field. For example, a trial consultant may assist by exaggerating their support and convincing the jury of their innocence using specialist knowledge of a situation (Brodsky, 2012). In addition, expert counsel may help a counsel avoid oversharing information that would create a weak point that the opposition can manipulate to win a case (Barsky, 2015). Finally, a law counsel can help prevent poor appearance and delivery of information to keep the jury and the judge interested in a case.

References

Barsky, A. (2015). Clinicians in Court; A Guide to Subpoenas, Depositions, Testifying, & Everything You Need to Know (2nd ed., pp. 11-71). The Guilford Press.

Brodsky, S. (2012). Testifying in Court: Guidelines and Maxims for the Expert Witness (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.