July '07
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For Expert Witnesses & Legal Professionals Nationwide

Welcome to our 15th Issue. Some interesting cases this month as well as some useful events for your diary and our usual trawl of stories from around the UK and elsewhere. You will also find a couple of very different contributions from two renowned experts. We have been promised a decision by the Law Society imminently on our application for CPD accreditation for our fledgling Seminar Panel. When we hear the result, we will be publishing the news on our website and, if favourable, we'll be organising some seminars as soon as possible which can be booked through the site. As always, we welcome your contributions and feedback.
Law

  • R v Webber - Criminal Law. Not exactly breaking news, but one of our barristers encountered this recently and we felt it's a timely reminder to all criminal advocates to be careful as to the content of cross-examination if the accused is to avoid adverse inferences being drawn. A useful case, with a link to the judgement.

  • Charman v Charman - Family Law. The long awaited Court of Appeal judgment in this 'big money' case was handed down following a three day hearing in March. The wife was spectacularly succssful, although it's not clear if an appeal is planned. This case is crucial reading for family practitioners and accountants who take on work in this area. Contains a link to the judgement.

  • Re M (A Child) - Family Law. An important case for experts and lawyers. As this case was widely reported in the media, we have included the details under our 'In The News' section below.


    Events
    6-8/7/07: "Benefits of Hindsight" (Glasgow) Forensic Science Society Summer Conference.
    12/7/07: 'Listening Event' (Lancaster) Health Professions Council event.
    21/07/07: Affiliates Day Royal College of Surgeons (London) event.
    22-28/7/07: 92nd International Education Conference (San Diego) International Association For Identification Conference

    Articles

    'Why Do Plastic Parts Fail?' Such failure often leads to PI or other civil cases. Expert Vishu Shah, a consultant with specialist firm Consultek gives us an insight.

    'Borderline Personality Disorder vs Antisocial Personality Disorder' X-Pro registered psychologist Dr Ludwig Lowenstein provides another article that will interest fellow experts, criminal practitioners and others.


    In The News

    17/06/07 (UK): Lockerbie Bomber - New Evidence Casts Doubt The Defence team of a convicted Lockerbie bomber have unearthed forensic evidence that they say casts doubt upon the guilty verdict.


    12/06/07 (US): Nice Work If You Can Get It Part 2: Black Expert Bills $800,000 An expert witness called by the defence in the Conrad Black trial has billed approximately $800,000 to review documents and testify in the case, jurors have heard.


    8/06/07 (US): New Trial For Teacher In Porn Case As a follow up to an earlier story (X-Pro News, Dec'06) a judge has ordered a retrial in the case of Julie Amero, the substitute teacher accused of exposing her pupils to Internet pornography.


    2/06/07 (US): Marines Executed Civilians Says Report San Diego - Some of the Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha by US marines, including women and children, died of execution-style gunshot wounds and not grenade explosions, according to new evidence presented at a pre-trial hearing in California.


    2/06/07 (UK): Expert Estimates Stansted Noise Impact A noise expert has said the impact of an increase in flights from Stansted Airport would be larger than airport bosses claim.


    1/06/07 (UK): Case Dismissed Against Vet The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons last week dismissed a case against a veterinary surgeon having found that her actions during the treatment of an injured horse did not amount to serious professional misconduct.


    1/06/07 (Eire): Investigators Hear Evidence On Jail Killing of N.Irish Militant A long-delayed investigation into the 1997 prison assassination of a Northern Ireland paramilitary commander began hearing testimony Wednesday in Dublin - 2 ½ years after Britain authorized the inquiry.


    1/06/07 (US): Animal Forensics On The Rise When Marilyn Christian's cat was killed she suspected a local dog was the culprit. She eventually paid $500 for the evidence to be tested at the Veterinary Genetics Lab at the University of California at Davis, which has the largest database of domesticated-animal DNA in the country.


    21/05/07 (UK): Family Case Makes News In a case reported widely in the media, the Court of Appeal has drawn a firm line between medical evidence and forensic decisions.


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