Expert Witnesses in Ocean City DUI Cases

Expert witnesses can have a huge impact on the outcome of a criminal case. They are specifically called to court as unbiased experts in their field, there to offer accurate information and opinions about a certain case. An experienced Ocean City DUI lawyer will have fostered strong relationships with reliable expert witnesses, and will be able to bring this credibility to their clients’ defenses. Call today to schedule a consultation.

Examples of Expert Witnesses in Ocean City DUI Cases

The prosecutor will only call an expert witness when there is evidence that needs to be explained by someone with expertise in a particular field. In a DUI case, the State may need to call an expert who can explain the results of a toxicology report or a blood test. Or, if the Defendant was charged with driving while under the influence of drugs, the State would call a Drug Recognition Expert. A DRE is a police officer who has had all the regular basic training, but has also gotten additional training to be able to perform an evaluation to see if a driver is under the influence of drugs. It’s a very long process. It is a 13-step analysis that the DRE performs. The final step is getting a sample of the driver’s blood to be able to test for the presence of drugs.

Sometimes, a DUI also involves an accident, and another driver or a passenger may be seriously injured or killed. If that’s the case, then the State may also call a collision reconstruction expert. That is an officer that has received training in reconstructing an accident by looking at things like the marking on the road, the damage to the vehicle, if there are skid marks left, measuring those skid marks and determining what infererences can be drawn by those skid marks. In the event of a very serious motor vehicle accident, the State would also produce an expert to testify about what can be determined from reviewing the collision scene.

Weight of Expert Witness Testimony in Ocean City DUI Cases

Both the prosecution and the defense can call expert witnesses in Ocean City DUI cases. If an expert comes across in testimony as being reliable and credible, they can be given a great deal of weight. A judge or a jury could listen to an expert and a case could really be decided based on an expert’s testimony. So it really depends on how the expert comes across.

Personal Experiences With Expert Witnesses

I have participated in trials where experts did a fantastic job. They were very credible.

I have also participated in trial where experts, and this is referring to experts called by either side, did a horrible job and came across as being incompetent and not having credibility. If that’s the situation, then their testimony is not going to be given a great deal of weight. It helps if an expert has been recognized as an expert in this field prior to that trial and has been recognized as an expert many times over before that trial that certainly lend credibility to that expert’s testimony. The amount of training and real life experience that that expert has, that can make them a very credible expert as well.

Considering Expert Witnesses For Testimony

It’s important for an attorney to know before considering using a particular expert witness. Does this expert know what they are talking about? What sort of training do they have? What sort of real life experiences do they have in their career outside of whatever they learned in school? Have they testified as an expert in the past, how many times, in what jurisdiction? All of those, that’s important background information that an attorney should assess when deciding whether or not to utilize an expert.