Weekly Blog #11&12 - The Mock Trial

Q: The major preparation for trial by the expert witness is the expert report.  If the report is structured well, there is really no other preparation needed – just turn up to court on the day and answer the questions.

I strongly disagree with the above statement; I believe an expert witness must be more prepared than just having a well-structured report.  An expert witness is an expert who makes the knowledge and experience available to the court to help come to an understanding of the issues in a case and thereby reach a sound decision based on hard evidence (Dalton, 2010).  The expert witness must be prepared to the point where they know and understand the complete details in the report (Greene, 2002). According to Paul Vincent (2016), an expert witness must dedicate hours upon hours learning their investigation report thus giving them the best chance at being ready with any questions asked.  Being an expert witness is stressful, hard work and takes a lot of practice to master it.

In week 11, I was called upon to give expert witness on a given prosecution case in a mock trial.  Personally, I loved the experience and had a lot of fun.  I got to experience a little bit of life as an expert witness, although the barristers were able to make me crack, I still had great fun.  One of the major issues I learnt from my personal and classmates experience presenting was how important it is to have a carefully written investigation report and needing to understand every little detail.  Because we (students) did not write the report, the barristers were able to catch us off-guard unexpectedly and make us crumble under the pressure by pressuring specific words in the document.  Because of my personal lack of understanding of one particular graph in the report, I failed to convince the judge in believing my evidence was strong on the prosecution side.  I was advised how important it is to help the judge understand information when the time comes as it is the best way to get the judge on your side (Vincent, 2016).

Another common major problem students faced, me included, was overthinking the cross-examination questions. Overthinking the barristers questions, thinking where they are heading with their questions only made us hesitate and not taking the time to think and answer the questions properly. Vincent (2016) stated that this is a very common problem expert witnesses experience and takes a bit of practice to overcome.

If I was in a position giving advice to a forensic accountant expert witness before they appear in court, I would recommend;

• Have a sound knowledge of the subject matter is dispute, practical evidence of it.
• Learn, understand and prepare the investigation report. This way the expert witness will know all the details in the report thus being able to communicate findings and opinions clearly, confidently in which evidence is being given.
• Try to learn the ability to be ‘quick on your feet’ which becomes necessary when cross examinations ask unexpected questions.
• Focus on the question being asked and nothing else at the time.

Reference

Dalton, C. (2010). Acting as an expert witness in court. Irish Medical Times, 44(1), 18. Retrieved from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/227312041?accountid=13380

Greene, E., & Smith, A. (2002). The expert expert witness: More maxims and guidelines for the expert witness. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75, 125-127. Retrieved from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/199346692?accountid=13380

Vincent, P. (2016). AYB115: Governance, Fraud and Investigation. Week 11 Mock Trial.

Additional Information:

Quick and Easy Cross-Examination Tips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ0wiVM8ZTk

Mastering Cross Examination in the Court Room:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyn-ykG7GF8

What makes a good Forensic Accountant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHLB6hJSvIs