CVs + Moot Courts Do Not = An Expert Witness Ron Smith, President Ron Smith & Associates, Inc.

Jury Assumptions Minimum of 80 hours of formal EWT Training Testify often Crime Lab Would Not Send an Un- Trained Witness to Represent Their Agency

Forensic Science: Have We Forgotten its Meaning?

Current Trends 1.Practice session(s) followed by a Moot Court 2.Go to court to watch another analyst testify 3.School of hard knocks

Please Stop the Bleeding!

Forensic Trust 1.Trust in the forensic discipline you practice. 2.Trust in witness practitioner.

Requires a Laboratory – Wide Culture Change 1.Shift Their Focus to the Jury / Not on Themselves. 2.Remember Who the Stress is REALLY on. 3.Juries Don’t Vote on the Truth, but their perception of the truth.

Requires Laboratory Management to be Brutally Honest With Themselves How good are our existing witnesses? How good is our Expert Witness Training Program? Am I doing all I can to maintain respect for our laboratory through our expert witness testimony services?

Expert Witness Testimony Program Internal and Continuous Multi-faceted Interdisciplinary Risk / Reward Based Quality Controlled Throughout

Thanks and May God Bless!