Witnesses Books

Testifying in Court: Guidelines and Maxims for the Expert Witness

Stanley L. Brodsky

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Psychological Association (APA) Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $9.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Psychological 3 out of 5 stars.
12 of 18 people found this review helpful.

I did enjoy this book and found vaious helpful and useful advice for testifying. However, the entire book is written from a psychologist's point of view and virtually all the examples and stories are from psychologist's testifying in court.

Being in the computer profession I had to relate how my experience would apply to the maxims and examples provided in this book. This was easy for some maxims, difficult for others, while some maxims and examples totally did not apply at all.

Older but not out-of-date 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

This is Brodsky's first book on Expert Witnessing and is now 6+ years old. It remains one of the best primers on what to expect, particularly for the psychologist, when working in a forensic environment. It is easy to read, has great stories, offers good citations, and covers a deceptively wide range of central issues for anyone wanting to be better prepared for work with lawyers and the courts. Each "chapter" is 2-3 pages in length, which makes them easy to read and digest in brief periods as each "chapter" is independent and stands alone well. I have read all three of the books in this "series" by Brodsky and continue to view this one as the best of the three.

Editorial Review:

This book helps both the veteran expert witness and the novice to prepare to offer testimony, to understand the courtroom milieu, and to evaluate the effectiveness of testimony before and after the courtroom experience.

Clinicians in Court: A Guide to Subpoenas, Depositions, Testifying, and Everything Else You Need to Know

Allan E. Barsky, Jonathan W. Gould

Amazon Price: $24.30 List Price: $27.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Guilford Press Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $20.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Saved me 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

When I got a call from a lawyer, I didn't know what to do. I found this book online, and wow was I lucky. Lots of useful trips which kept me out of trouble. Thank you.

Editorial Review:

Mental health and human service professionals are often called on to give evidence or expert testimony in a range of circumstances, including family law and child welfare trials, mental health hearings, malpractice lawsuits, criminal trials, government hearings, and private arbitration. Interacting with the legal system poses many potential challenges, but adequate preparation and a basic understanding of legal processes and terminology can make the experience a more positive one. This volume provides practical information and proven guidelines to help clinicians from any background understand their role in legal proceedings-and participate effectively, ethically, and with minimal stress. Special features include helpful checklists and samples of affidavits, retainer agreements, and other materials that can be adapted for use in the reader's own practice.

The Expert Expert Witness: More Maxims and Guidelines for Testifying in Court

Stanley L. Brodsky

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Psychological Association (APA) Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $11.83

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Must-Read... 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

...for anyone who is involved in legal proceedings, professionally or otherwise. Brodsky's latest installment, based on his obviously extensive experience and insights, is replete with useful info for both those who testify and those who solicit expert testimony. At the same time, it's marvelously well written and entertaining and hard to put down once you start reading it. Brodksy has clearly done it again, and let's hope there's a third installment in the works.

Editorial Review:

In this text for forensic psychologists, Stanley L. Brodsky, a teacher, scholar and expert witness, describes court work and the legal context, in an informal manner that is more explanatory than adversarial. Brief topic-focused chapters, each summed up with a maxim, teach readers about the typical ploys and techniques used by attorneys to draw out information, either supportive or contradictory. In addition to offering principles, lessons and maxims, this volume addresses specific questions that will be asked, and challenging testimony and worst-case scenarios, many posed by people who have contacted the author about their own courtroom dilemmas. While clearly recognizing the gravity of the expert witness role and of the oath of honesty, Brodsky emphasizes the exhilarating intellectual and professional challenge involved in mastering the courtroom setting.

Witsec: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program

Pete Earley

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bantam Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $2.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For decades no law enforcement program has been as cloaked in controversy and mystery as the Federal Witness Protection Program. Now, for the first time, Gerald Shur, the man credited with the creation of WITSEC, teams with acclaimed investigative journalist Pete Earley to tell the inside story of turncoats, crime-fighters, killers, and ordinary human beings caught up in a life-and-death game of deception in the name of justice.

WITSEC
Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program

When the government was losing the war on organized crime in the early 1960s, Gerald Shur, a young attorney in the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, urged the department to entice mobsters into breaking their code of silence with promises of protection and relocation. But as high-ranking mob figures came into the program, Shur discovered that keeping his witnesses alive in the face of death threats involved more than eradicating old identities and creating new ones. It also meant cutting off families from their pasts and giving new identities to wives and children, as well as to mob girlfriends and mistresses.

It meant getting late-night phone calls from protected witnesses unable to cope with their new lives. It meant arranging funerals, providing financial support, and in one instance even helping a mobster’s wife get breast implants. And all too often it meant odds that a protected witness would return to what he knew best–crime.

In this book Shur gives a you-are-there account of infamous witnesses, from Joseph Valachi to “Sammy the Bull” Gravano to “Fat Vinnie” Teresa, of the lengths the program goes to to keep its charges safe, and of cases that went very wrong and occasionally even protected those who went on to kill again.

He describes the agony endured by innocent people who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in a program tailored to criminals. And along with Shur’s war stories, WITSEC draws on the haunting words of one mob wife, who vividly describes her life of lies, secrecy, and loss inside the program.

A powerful true story of the inner workings of one of the most effective and controversial weapons in the war against organized crime and the inner workings of organized crime itself–and more recently against Colombian drug dealers, outlaw motorcycle gang members, white-collar con men, and international terrorists–this book takes us into a tense, dangerous twilight world carefully hidden in plain sight: where the family living next door might not be who they say they are. . .


From the Hardcover edition.

Investigative Interviews of Children: A Guide for Helping Professionals

Debra A. Poole, Michael E. Lamb

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 By: American Psychological Association (APA) Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $18.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Best book for current interview protocols 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 19 people found this review helpful.

I wish I had read this book the first day it came out. Very good protocols. Very effective strategies. Speaking as a law enforcement investigator assigned to these cases almost exclusively, there is not a better book I've found yet.

Editorial Review:

Interviewing children as part of an investigation is an act that requires great care. Professional interviewers are coming under increasing scrutiny, and their techniques must pass rigorous review by outside agencies, at the same time serving the needs of children.This engagingly written, eye-opening book provides a practical answer to this dilemma. It summarizes the most important recent research and steers the reader away from controversial techniques. The authors, two of the most prominent researchers in this area, cover important topics such as: the strengths and weaknesses of children as witnesses; the current child protection and abuse-investigation crisis; child development and comprehension; and ancillary techniques such as using dolls. They offer a generic protocol for conducting interviews of children and show how it can be customized to specific cases.

How to Become a Dangerous Expert Witness: Advanced Techniques and Strategies

Steven Babitsky Esq; and James J. Mangraviti Jr.; Esq.

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Examples make the case 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

For anyone preparing to testify, or for those who testify on a regular basis, this book will be of great help. The text deals with basic philosophy as well as reasoning behind the typical attorney thinking. But, the strongest aspect of the cook involves the many examples used to illustrate concepts and techniques.

A MUST-HAVE text for every expert witness 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I use this text in teaching financial professionals wanting to enter the arena of testifying experts. Ignore this volume at your peril!

Editorial Review:

How to Become a Dangerous Expert Witness teaches experienced experts how to become dangerous experts. The mere disclosing of a dangerous expert to the opposing side can frequently increase the settlement value of a case. Accordingly, dangerous experts are selective on the types of cases they accept and are able to command premium fees. Opposing lawyers are concerned about the dangerous expert’s expertise, command of the facts and his ability to communicate, teach and persuade the jury. Dangerous experts understand how to defeat opposing counsel’s tactics and are even capable of turning the tables on opposing counsel.

Expert Witnesses in Child Abuse Cases: What Can and Should Be Said in Court

Stephen J. Ceci, Helene Hembrooke

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

TESTIMONY 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent resource for the professional who has had no or limited experience in testifying regarding child sexual abuse matters (or, for those who have had negative experiences). The author provides background and recommendations for testimony. Like most books published by APA, I found that it safely balanced the scientific with the clinical. In doing so, I found that it provided a disappointing level of detail about abuse, the consultation process, evaluation, preparation, or testimony. For the clinician wishing greater information on the topic or for the clinician wishing for more useful information on the evaluation or testimony processes, I'd recommend augmentation with other relevant sources. Useful resource that is worth the used price.

Editorial Review:

Psychologists have been increasingly called on to testify in child abuse cases. The rough-and-tumble world of courtroom machinations, however, has left many wondering how they can protect themselves and their science from manipulation and misuse by the court system. In this text, lawyers, psychologists and social workers discuss the thornier aspects of testimony and provide recommendations on the proper role of the expert witness. In each chapter, one or more contemporary problem areas associated with expert testimony in cases of child abuse are described.

Coping With Cross-Examination and Other Pathways to Effective Testimony

Stanley L. Brodsky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A MUST --Makes the difficult areas of Cross-Examination easy 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 14 people found this review helpful.

This is the third installment. In plain language, the author tackles many difficult cross-examination issues. The author uses easy to understand examples to illustrate complex litigation processes and skills that the expert witness must master before taking the stand. As a lawyer, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in expert testimony. I give this book my highest rating. Also, check out the other two books on expert testimony by the author.

An excellent book 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I have just finished reading Stanley Brodsky's Coping With Cross Examination. I absorbed it like a sponge. Although most of the book is devoted to testimony by mental health experts in criminal court, there is much in the book that is very relevant in other contexts. I have rarely been asked or required to testify in criminal cases, but I have provided expert medical testimony at hundreds of Social Security disability appeals hearings, complete with judge and lawyer. In that role there is often conflicting evidence and the expert must integrate all of the relevant evidence, and most importantly be prepared, professional, impartial, and provide relevant understandable testimony. Dr Brodsky's book clearly speaks to those points. The book is full of good examples, good humor, and good reasoning. It is the kind of book that I am likely to consult again to help me in my work. I highly recommend this book to any mental health professional who may be asked to provide sworn testimony. I also recommend it to those who may not testify but who may be retained by lawyers for evaluations or consultations. Dr. Brodsky's ethics are superb. This book is a very practical and helpful guide to working with lawyers and judges.

Editorial Review:

Health professionals, substance abuse counsellors, psychologists, handwriting analysts and experts on physical evidence should be interested in this book that teaches readers about the typical techniques attorneys use to challenge experts' credibility and the basis of their opinions. Pointers on preparation and effective narrative style are included, backed by findings from the emerging literature on the assessment of expert testimony.

The Portable Guide to Testifying in Court for Mental Health Professionals: An A-Z Guide to Being an Effective Witness

Barton E., JD, LMSW Bernstein, Thomas L., Jr., JD Hartsell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A one-stop guide to testifying in court for mental health professionals

Even the most seasoned mental health professionals can find themselves unnerved by the prospect of appearing in court, especially when presented with it for the first time. Those in the mental health field usually have no formal preparation for testifying in court, even though they often play an important part in many types of cases.

The Portable Guide to Testifying in Court for Mental Health Professionals provides a concise yet comprehensive guide for practitioners preparing to appear in court. The authors employ their combined decades of legal work in the mental health field to provide a clear, no-nonsense handbook of what to expect, how to prepare, and what to look out for when testifying in court.

Along with a general introduction to courts and the legal system, the text details topics such as:
* Testifying both as an expert and involuntary witness
* Protecting clients when bringing therapy into testimony
* Preparing for testimony
* Tips to use and lawyers' tricks to look out for when testifying in court


Throughout the book, Bernstein and Hartsell use detailed case studies to provide specific examples. In addition, "legal light bulbs" offer important tips and facts, and appendices list relevant Web resources and provide common legal forms.

A one-of-a-kind resource, The Portable Guide to Testifying in Court for Mental Health Professionals gives a complete view of your role in courtroom proceedings, offering a vital tool for both legal and mental health practices.

Examining Witnesses: Direct, Cross, and Expert Examinations

Roger Haydock, John Sonsteng

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Brief Book about Basics 4 out of 5 stars.
28 of 29 people found this review helpful.

This is book 3 of "The Trial Advocacy Series," a 5 book series covering the whole art of trial advocacy. Chapter 1 covers direct and redirect. Chapter 2 covers cross, and Chapter 3 is devoted to expert testimony.

Each chapter is divided into sections and subsections, and the authors walk the fledgling advocate through all aspects of the examination of witnesses. The advice is succinct, to the point, and usually good. The book would be most useful to the rookie. Competent, experienced trial lawyers will learn little from it, but it will probably remind them of a few things they've learned and almost forgotten.

Harold Stern's series "Trying Cases to Win," covers trial advocacy in greater depth, and the experienced attorny will find it more useful. The attorney will also find it much more expensive, as a single volume of that series will cost almost as much as all 5 volumes of the "Trial Advocacy Series."

I liked the section on "myths of cross examination." Although reasonable advocates could differ on the wisdom of some of the "myths," they were thought-provoking.

One thing I didn't like: The transcripts were composed pieces. The authors should have gone to the trouble to search out real examples from real trials. Reading real transcripts is drudge work. Reading fake transcripts is downright painful.

Editorial Review:

Contains strategic explanations and numerous examples of tactics and techniques that will enable you to conduct a persuasive direct-examination. Provides a complete explanation of the various types of cross-examination approaches, including impeachment. Provides a thorough explanation of alternative topics and questions to ask expert witnesses on direct- and cross-examination.