​Instructor: Shelly Haight 
Course length: 24 hours

This Courtroom Testimony for the Forensic Science Professional course is designed to instruct proper testimony techniques to forensic science professionals, such as those employed in the fields of crime scene investigations, fingerprint analysis, and laboratory analysis. 

Practitioners in these disciplines are frequently called upon to testify in court regarding the techniques, observations, and conclusions undertaken in their work. Often, they are requested to express opinions in their courtroom testimony, which is only possible when they are accepted by the court as expert witnesses. The goal of this course is to provide the students with the knowledge and practical experience necessary to successfully testify in a court of law as a forensic expert witness. 

The first step in being accepted as a forensic expert witness is to survive the “voir dire.”
Students will learn how to prepare themselves and the concerned attorney(s) for this important initial step. The course will continue by covering techniques the witness can employ to more effectively explain scientific evidence to the judge and jury.

Concepts covered in the course will be reinforced by practical exercises in which the students will participate.

Course Schedule

DAY 1
  • Introduction
  • Federal (and local) rules of evidence
  • Expert Witness Role
  • Exercise 1 - Testifying vs teaching (discussion)
  • Daubert Trilogy
  • Daubert vs Frye
  • Daubert Challenge
  • Forensic Science Court Decisions
  • President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report and new policy recommendations
  • Curriculum Vitae vs Resume
  • Exercise 2 - Discuss and write an effective and professional CV

DAY 2
  • Criminal vs civil case testimony
  • Professional attire and demeanor
  • Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic (VARK) Learning type and Juror perspective
  • Exercise 3 – Practice the different VARK learning techniques
  • Visual Aids importance
  • Exercise 4 - Visual Aids (ideas discussion)
  • Pretrial conference – Testimony expectations
  • Pretrial conference – in limine (off limit) topics
  • Preparing for Testimony - Qualifying questions
  • Exercise 5 – Qualifying questions (discussion)
  • Preparing for Testimony - Direct Examination
  • Preparing for Testimony - Cross Examination
  • Current Hot topics and publications (Bias, Organization of Scientific Area Committees, Scientific Working Group, PCAST, National Academy of Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science)
  • Moot Court preparation
 
DAY 3
            Exercise 6 - Moot Court
 

​This course has been approved for 24 hours of certification/re-certification training credit by both the IAI Latent Print and+ Crime Scene Certification Boards.
Shelly Haight
​Following her graduation in Forensic Science, Shelly taught the Crime Scene Investigation course at California State University, Long Beach. She holds degrees, certificates, and accolades in Business Management, Human Resources, Forensic Science and Evidence Technology, Liberal Arts, Health Sciences and Paralegal Studies.

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