Posted by Honore on March 12, 2007, at 22:47:44
In reply to Re: Judges from Maryland, posted by notfred on March 11, 2007, at 14:11:31
I don't know the particulars of the cases, or the possible prejudices of the judges--or, perhaps, the greater expertise and sophistication of judges-- who dismiss Breggin. Judges may think Breggin is not a credible expert-- in which case, he probably won't be hired as such very often.
I was concerned more about the idea, in several posts, suggesting that expert witnesses are, as the term goes, "hired guns"-- willing to say anything for a certain amount of money. That isn't true, of expert witnesses-- usually they can't do the job they're being paid for if there's any suspicion that their opinions are for sale.
If nothing else, it's common practice for an opposing lawyer to question an expert witness about what they're being paid, and try to find things in their history or publications that contradict what they testify to. If there are such things, their testimony is undermined for a judge or jury, anyway-- and experts usually have a paper trail of some sort, which is how they qualified as experts.
Honore
poster:Honore
thread:739762
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070308/msgs/740577.html