Fact Witnesses Versus Expert Witnesses Essay Example

Trials call for witnesses that can either be factual or expert witnesses. These two have a major contribution to the ongoing proceedings, but it evident that the two witnesses have their similarities and differences during the trial period and the testimonies provided (Brodoslky, 2009). The similarities between the two types of witnesses is the importance of their view to jury. The information they provide to those in a courtroom will play a key role in guiding the jury in making a decision regarding the case. Therefore, when preparing an expert or factual witness, it is important to ensure that they have all the information that will help them understand the situation in the courtroom well. Therefore, the preparation of an expert and factual witness will entail they are ready to give their testimony by providing information about the case in process to help them gain perspective of what the need to do or research on before the trail begins. It is important in this case to ensure that their overall attitude is not arrogant, but highly professional.
The other similarity in this case, is that the person preparing them for the court session seeks to have their expert opinion laid out well before the court. The preparation of the case may also entail having the two witnesses interact with the accused or the client in order to gain an understanding of the information. This will help them draw expert conclusion of the situation (Giorgi et al., 2002).
The first difference between the two witnesses is about the knowledge they have about specific details of the case. In the case of a factual witness, he or she has first hand information or knowledge about a specific issue. As result, he or she will give the information to the court as a factual testimony that will be used as evidence. Therefore, when preparing him or her, the focus will be on how the information will be relevant for the case. Their perspective should be factual. On the other hand, the expert witness does not have the specific details or knowledge in that particular case, but he or she will have immense knowledge in other fields that is different but is relevant to the current case. Therefore preparing the expert witness entails research on how their expertise will apply to the case at hand. They should have anecdotal point of references to the case. It will cover aspects that will offer insight on how the situation can be applied to the case at hand especially when coupled with the evidence provided from the factual witness.
The other difference when preparing the factual witness is ensuring that their facts are right as they will take an oath to state whether a certain fact is true or false by giving specific information and not speculating whether it can be true or not. On the other hand, an expert witness is called upon to give his opinion based on his experience over the years on his or her specific field of practice. Therefore, preparing them for trial has to entail ensuring that their opinion will work for the case not against it. It is important to ensure that the language they use will not be jargon as the jury have to understand their expert opinion without all the complex words used in their field (Brodoslky 2009).

References

Brodoslky, S. L. (2009). Chapter 9: Coping With Cross-Examination and Other Pathways to
Effective Testimony.
Chapter 3, “Testifying in Courtrooms,” in Forensic Social Work: Legal Aspects of Professional
Practice. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 37:2:273-274 (June 2009).
Giorgi-Guarnieri, D. et al., (2002). AAPL Practice Guideline for Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation
of Defendants Raising the Insanity Defense. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 30(2 Supp): S1–
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Woody, R. H. (2009). Ethical Considerations of Multiple Roles in Forensic Services. Ethics and
behavior, 19(3), 78-79).