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Toxicology expert witnesses are hired to testify in legal proceedings about the effects of chemicals on living things. They may support or refute evidence, help prepare questions for opposing experts, and must have extensive knowledge and experience in the field. Judges determine their qualifications based on education, experience, skills, lack of bias, and ability to communicate clearly and confidently.
Expert witnesses are individuals who are hired, based on their training, education and expertise, to testify in civil or criminal proceedings. They have knowledge of a particular subject that is beyond that of the average person or lay witness. A toxicology expert witness has experience and education in toxicology, the study of the effects that chemicals have on living things. The chemical in question could be alcohol, poison, prescription drugs, illegal drugs, tobacco, pesticides, or any other chemical that could affect a human being, positively or negatively.
The role of a toxicology expert varies from case to case. A toxicologist may be called upon to support or disprove evidence or facts of a case. Testifying toxicology experts will review the case and provide their unbiased opinion to support or refute the cause of the reaction or non-reaction a chemical had on a perpetrator, victim or witness. The toxicology expert can help the prosecutor or defense attorney prepare questions for opposing forensic experts. An attorney may rely on a forensic expert to explain a scientifically complex interaction of a chemical with a human being in terms that the attorney, judge, and jury can understand.
There are qualifications that a toxicology expert should have in order to be able to fulfill his duties. A forensic toxicologist must have extensive experience and knowledge of the medical effects, both physical and mental, that chemicals have on the human body. A toxicologist’s experience can be specific to a particular type of chemical or more general. The attorney will need to ensure that the toxicology expert’s background matches the factors in the case and that his or her motivations are pure; otherwise, the expert may be considered unqualified, biased, or unreliable.
The judge is ultimately the one who determines whether a toxicologist is qualified to be an expert toxicology witness. A toxicologist must be able to apply generally accepted toxicological, scientific and medical principles to the case. Having a forensic toxicologist who has been considered an expert by other judges in the past can make this process go smoother. With or without such a past determination, judges will consider the individual’s education, years of experience, specific skills for the chemical and medical reactions in question, writings, teachings, and lack of potential bias.
Being qualified in terms of knowledge is not the only attribute a forensic expert is expected to have. Expert witnesses should be seen as confident, knowledgeable, and secure in their testimony, without appearing pretentious, condescending, or arrogant. They must be competent, both in their areas of expertise and in communicating clearly and directly. The judge and jury should be able to understand the concepts being explained by the experts, agree that the experts have the credentials to back up their testimony, and have confidence that the toxicologists believe the facts they are testifying.
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