Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

two such deaths might occur in the same family. An appellate court ultimately quashed thedefendant’s murder convictions. Initially struck off the medical register when the GeneralMedical Council (GMC) concluded that he had “abused his position as a doctor,” Dr. Meadowswon a high court appeal to overturn this ban when it was determined that he had “acted in goodfaith” despite having opined in error. The effects of this series of events are reflected in adecade’s worth of statutory innovations and appellate decisions in jurisdictions throughout theworld. This presentation will provide a comparative overview of international perspectives onexpert witnesses as defendants.“Cold Case” Issues for the Expert Witness as DefendantAlan Clarke, Department of Law and Criminology, Aberystwyth (ahc@aber.ac.uk)The last two decades have witnessed an increasing shift amongst policing organizations in theUnited Kingdom and North America toward utilizing a more formal process of periodicallyreviewing their long-term unsolved cases, to establish whether any new “investigativeopportunities” might have arisen. Originally based upon somewhat ad hoc and innovativeresponses, and used for only a small number of individual cases, these “cold case” reviews haveprogressively established a more defined and coherent methodology for “fixing” the past. Theresulting technological and procedural refinements have enabled other organizations—includingprofessional licensing boards—to delve into matters that until recently would have beenconsidered decidedly low-yield options for identifying malfeasance. In particular, biologicallybased inquiries (concerning, for example, sexual transgressions) and database oriented inquiries(concerning, for example, billing and communications improprieties) have dramatically extendedthe reach of board investigations that address the activities of expert witnesses and otherprofessionals. Empirically grounded studies of the police practices used when conducting coldcase reviews of unsolved homicides illuminate key features of what is termed “retroactive socialcontrol” (RSC). This presentation will identify implications of RSC for what can arguably beconsidered the “policing” function of professional licensing boards regarding the expert witnessas defendant.The Personal and Professional Experience of the Expert Witness as DefendantThomas G. Gutheil, Harvard Medical School (gutheiltg@cs.com)Dealing with the considerable stress occasioned by being the subject of litigation requiresattention to a number of factors in order to prevent the legal process from wreaking havoc withwork, family, and physical and mental health. The core principle in this regard is to preservethose aspects of life that promote wellbeing while allowing for the disruptions that occupying therole of defendant will inevitably produce. Expert witnesses who are being sued often lose thethread of appropriate time management in several observable and preventable ways. Rather than159