Expert Witness Blog

Computer security expert witness Professor Susan Landau is scheduled to testify at the US Congressional hearing on encryption issues. The hearing, entitled “The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy,” will examine encryption technology in light of public safety and national security. Dr. Landau is a Professor of Cybersecurity Policy in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Technology experts are called upon to report and testify on data retrieved from cellular communications as well as computers. Cell phone technology expert witness Supervisor Special Agent Jason Warren testified for the prosecution in the federal RICO trial related to the slaying of Waynesboro, Virginia, reserve police Capt. Kevin Quick. A member of the FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team, the expert described how cellphones are used to track a user’s location.

Psychology expert witness Dr. David Diamond testified for the defense in the trial of a mother accused of leaving her five-month old in a hot car. The mother, Wakesha Ives, faces a negligent homicide charge after she left her baby in the car while she was working.

Richard Leo, a professor of psychology and law at the University of San Francisco, testified in the case against Tim Jimerson in the1992 murder of Toni Spicer. The defense argued that a false confession was made during police interrogation. The psychology expert witness is the Hamill Family Professor of Law and Social Psychology at USF and has written numerous empirical articles and books on the practice and psychology of police interrogation, false confessions, and the wrongful conviction of the innocent.

FBI Special Agent Robert Moledor will testify as an expert witness in the Hammond, IN, District Court trial of Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist and his wife, Deborah. The couple is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and filing false tax returns, allegedly using money from his campaign and the city’s food pantry to pay for gambling trips.

A medical expert witness will testify in the case against Michael Smith who is charged with shooting a University of South Carolina student in 2013. The expert will report on the bullet still lodged in Martha Childress’ spine. The defendant is charged with attempted murder and several weapons charges in connection with the injury which left Childress paralyzed from the neck down. Smith was carrying a stolen semi-automatic .40-caliber Glock pistol.

Engineer and cell phone expert witness Bill Levitan testified in Knox County Tennessee Criminal Court in the double murder case against Norman Clark. Clark is accused of murdering estranged girlfriend Brittany Eldridge in addition to the unborn child she was carrying. Prosecutors would like to admit cell phone location records they say show that Clark’s phone pinged a cell tower near Eldridge’s house in the time leading up to her death. The defense argues that the data collected is inaccurate.

Forensic analysis expert witness Carol Crowe testified in the case against gunman James Holmes. The defendant is accused in the 2012 shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 70 more at a Century movie theater in Aurora, CO. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of murder, attempted murder and explosives charges.

Medical expert witness Dr. William Zane, of the Massachusetts state medical examiner’s office, testified regarding bullet wounds in the murder trial of former New England Patriots Aaron Hernandez. The jury is in deliberation after closing arguments in the death of Odin Lloyd. A pharmaceutical expert witness testified for the defense on the effects of PCP. Hernandez’s legal team presented the argument that two men who were with Hernandez, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, killed Lloyd while under the influence of PCP.

Forensic psychology expert witness Dr. Randall Price testified in the case against Eddie Routh. Routh is accused of killing Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend Chad Littlefield at a Texas gun range in 2013. Dr. Price is in independent practice as a clinical-forensic psychologist and neuropsychologist in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. He has been a professor of psychology at Richland College, Dallas since 1975.