week 7 Flashcards

1
Q

what are the types of witnesses

A

fact witness
expert witness

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2
Q

what is a fact witness

A

someone who provides relevant evidence about their direct experience

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3
Q

what are the 2 primary functions of an expert witness

A

aid in understanding a particular issue relevant to the case
provide an opinion

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4
Q

what can fact witness testify

A

only what they have directly observed

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5
Q

what are some challenges of providing expert testimony

A

experts need to know not only about their testimony but about the proceedings and their role in the proceedings
providing effective testimony to the courts is difficult because of differences that exist between the fields of psychology and law

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6
Q

in the US what are the rules of expert testimony called

A

frye and daubert and federal rules of evidence (FRE702)

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7
Q

what are the 5 rules of expert evidence in Australia

A

expertise rule
area of expertise rule
factual basis rule
common knowledge rule
ultimate issue rule

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8
Q

in NSW, TAS, ACT they use the uniform evidence law instead of what rule

A

ultimate issue rule

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9
Q

what is the expertise rule

A

does the witness have knowledge and experience sufficient to entitle him or her to be held out as an expert who can assist the Court

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10
Q

what is the area of expertise rule

A

is the claimed knowledge and expertise sufficiently recognised as credible by others capable of evaluating its theoretical and experiential foundations? eg. the area of your expertise is the only area you can supply info

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11
Q

what is the common knowledge rule

A

is the information sought to be elicited from the expert really something upon which the tribunal needs the help of any third party or can the tribunal rely upon its general knowledge and commonsense eg. is this commonsense knowledge that the general public could’ve understood without an expert

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12
Q

what is the ultimate issue rule

A

is the experts contribution going to have the effect of supplanting the function of the tribunal to decide the issue before the court? eg. they cannot say whether this person is innocent or guilty

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13
Q

what is the factual basis rule

A

to what extent can an experts opinion be based upon matters not directly within the experts own observations eg. can they show the steps that got them to their conclusions

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14
Q

what did daubert v merrel dow propose

A

that evidence should be based on realibility and validity eg. testing

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15
Q

where does the daubet v merrell dow apply

A

in federal jurisdictions, but has been adopted by some states

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16
Q

why do we want to having things tested

A

potential for misrepresentation or falisificaiton
error rate
whether it has been subject to peer review

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17
Q

for daubert v merrell dow, testimony is admissable if it is:

A

provided by a qualified expert
relevant
reliable, as determined by the daubert criteria

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18
Q

what does the daubert criteria require from research

A

be peer reviewed
be testable (falsifiable through experimentation)
have a known error rate
adhere to professional standards

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19
Q

what type of testimony did daubert relate to

A

all expert testimony

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20
Q

what type of testimony did daubert relate to prior to kumho case

A

scientific testimony only

21
Q

what is the rule 702. testimony by expert witnesses

A

a witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion

22
Q

what are the exemptions for rule 702

A

a. the experts scientific, technical, or other specialised knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue
b. the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data
c. the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods
d. the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case

23
Q

what is the frye v usa (1923) case

A

james was charged with murder and protested lie detector would prove innocence. court held that polygraph lacked scientific recognition.
Revolves around general acceptance in the relevant community.

24
Q

what is the criticism surrounding frye v USA

A

criticised as being too generous with evidence that is generally accepted (hair sample testing) but not actually validated (95% likely to be wrong)

25
what resulted from the frye v usa case
general acceptance test
26
what is the general acceptance test
in order for novel scientific evidence to be admissable, it must be established that the procedures used to arrive at the testimony are generally accepted in the scientific community
27
what is a major criticism for the general acceptance test
vagueness of terms general acceptance and whether trial judges can make this determination
28
what are the realities of expert testimony
has little to do with the fielf of expertise and more to do with: - how the judge feels - whether the evidence is for the prosecution or defence
29
what percentage of prosecution experts survive defence challenges compared to defence experts
92% compared to 33%
30
what percentage of prosecutors experts are admitted to trial compared to defence
95% compared to 8%
31
why do prosecution experts make it to trial and not defence
uniform, money, pro-prosecution bias, budget
32
different ways a psychologist could be an expert witness
family law court experimental testifying about a client (not recommended) testifying as a mental health clinician forensic assessor
33
type of psychology family law court testifying
magellan cases: physical or sexual child assault
34
what is experimental psychology expert witness
reaction time and eyewitness testimony, psycholinguistics
35
ethical principles underpinning forensic psychology:
respect for the dignity and rights of other people responsibility to clients, society and other profession veracity fidelity beneficence non-maleficence justice
36
what is veracity
honest and truthful
37
what is fidelity
entrusted with clients interests
38
what is beneficence
do good
39
what is non-maleficence
do no harm
40
what is justice
be fair and objective
41
what are the 3 main objects of the mental health act 2016
to improve and maintain the health and wellbeing of persons who have a mental illness who do not have the capacity to consent to be treated to enable persons to be diverted from the criminal justice system if found to have been of unsound mind at the time of committing an unlawful act or to be unfit for trial to protect the community if persons diverted form the criminal justice system may be at risk of harming others
42
what type of decision is insanity
a legal one not a clinical one
43
in advising the court regarding insanity, FP look for whether the person had the capacity to:
understand what they were doing control their actions know that they should not do the act, or make the omission
44
what is meant by fitness
competent to stand trial
45
what do fp experts look for regarding fitness
whether the person is able to: plead at their trial instruct their lawyer endure the trial
46
what do fp experts examine
criminal responsibility/insanity fitness
47
differences between criminal responsibility and fitness
CR is behaviour at the time of offence and fitness is the behaviour at the time of examination
48
what is expert evidence dictated by
rules or evidence and whim