The Relevant Issues Of Expert Witness Child Abuse

By Linda Butler


Psychology, law and sociology experts are working to create a more effective way of testifying in court. These are disciplines that have got to do with professional and therefore acceptable accounts for the court and jury to work on. Testimony given by these experts will often be things that a counselor uses to prove innocence or guilt, or provide motivation and causality to a case.

Sociologists, psychologists and legal counselors are concerned whether the testimony of this kind might be negatively affecting the way justice is served. All want the kind that is useful and relevant for people like the expert witness child abuse. The concern is for professional testimonies that will not be abused by attorneys handling a case.

An expert witness is the relevant professional needed to provide clarification on court or related issues. This is one part of a hearing where medical examiners and forensics experts were called in to make people understand the specific technical details they need to know to hand down an informed and just verdict. The practice could include any kind or person with a professional degree.

Law courts will hear out professional witnesses for necessary support for judgments that will be given. The judges and jurors are made to decide whether the testimony is good enough, but counselors can subjectify it with rhetorical arguments. They can therefore make the testimony worthless.

In cases of child abuse, there might be so many points that a lawyer can use and exploit to his advantage. When determined to win a case, he might wreck reputations, use expert witnesses to make people see things his way, and other techniques which are legal enough in one sense. However, many psychologists are questioning the validity of their accounts.

Ethics is a thing with many interpretations, but not when the law mandates one applicable definition or set of definitions for one item. If the lobbying is effective, the use of expert testimony in child abuse cases should be defined in a way not prejudicial to anyone concerned. This helps alleviate the pressing issue of ethical concern for sociologists and psychologists called in to testify.

Whatever decisions are made in this regard, the fact remains that expert witnesses should not be used indiscriminately. Testifying limits the things a psychologist, say, can provide a case in terms of more objective views. In cross examinations, the attorney may ask any question that can sway jurors in one way, towards a conclusion not even supported by the professional witness, or even by proven evidence.

Today, testimonies are not untouchable or sacrosanct because many trial attorneys rely on a method of argument that will destroy testimonial value when they see it as a block to winning the case. Thus ethics should come to the fore and solve one the thorniest issues for lawyering today. The debate goes on, but there should be one question that is always kept top of mind.

It is of course the welfare of the child or children involved in a case. Psychologists can be there to see what things should or should not be mentioned in front of them. A court case can add to the trauma, and may be instrumental in making it a permanent and injurious memory that will forever change the way a child views the world.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire