1 / 14

HOW TO LITIGATE ARSON CASES

HOW TO LITIGATE ARSON CASES. March 31, 2012 Jo Leigh Fischer. So you have an arson case. Know current edition of NFPA 921 and differences between previous editions When did your case occur vs. when it is going to trial?. How to Attack an Expert. Was the Scientific Method Used and/or Tested?

nyssa-tanner
Download Presentation

HOW TO LITIGATE ARSON CASES

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. HOW TO LITIGATE ARSON CASES March 31, 2012 Jo Leigh Fischer

  2. So you have an arson case. . . . • Know current edition of NFPA 921 and differences between previous editions • When did your case occur vs. when it is going to trial?

  3. How to Attack an Expert • Was the Scientific Method Used and/or Tested? • How were the accidental sources ruled out? • Are the tests reliable? • Are the results accepted within the relevant scientific community? • What are the Qualification of the Expert?

  4. What is the Scientific Method?

  5. How is the Scientific Method Used? • For purposes of litigation, you must ensure that your expert has properly followed the scientific method • If not, your expert can be excluded • If only partial complied, can be excluded • If completely complied, does their theory match the evidence?

  6. Accidental Sources • NFPA 921 2011 edition requires that accidental sources be ruled out • Accidental sources – “all those for which the proven cause does not involve an intentional human act to ignite or spread fire into an area where the fire should not be.”

  7. Reliability of tests • The tests have to be not only reliable, but the results have to be accepted within the relevant scientific community • In our situation, it would be within the fire science community/fire investigation community • If it is not, then the expert must be excluded

  8. Qualifications of the Expert • Evaluate the background, training, knowledge, and experience between your expert and the opposing expert • See how they measure up • See if the opposing expert has ever had a Daubert challenge • If they were challenged, were they excluded? • If they were excluded, why? • Get copies of the transcripts of those hearings • You must do very thorough homework on competing experts

  9. Litigation Strategies for Arson Cases • What tests did they do to “rule in” arson? • How were those tests performed? • Is spoliation an issue? • If so, in what regard? • Look at alternative possibilities/theories for the origin and/or cause of the fire

  10. Testing • Your expert needs to be able to explain how the tests used do not apply in your case • This is a key part to attacking opposing experts • Make sure their methods were sounded and accepted by their scientific community

  11. Post-Conviction Litigation Strategies for Arson Cases • What tests did they do to “rule in” arson originally? • How were those tests performed? • Did they use sound methods accepted in their scientific community? • Did they comply with the Scientific Method?

  12. Post-Conviction Litigation Strategies for Arson Cases (cont) • Was “junk science” used or relied upon? (i.e. spalling and pour patterns) • Which treatises were relied upon by the expert? • New editions? • If so, what were the changes? • Do the changes affect how the relevant scientific community works now?

  13. QUESTIONS?

  14. Jo Leigh W. FischerArmstrong Teasdale LLP2345 Grand Blvd, Suite 1500Kansas City, MO 64108Phone: 816-221-3420 Ext. 5318Fax: 816-221-0786 jfischer@armstrongteasdale.com

More Related