How important is it to employ the right expert witness?
I Often get asked , Do you enjoy what you do? The answer is , I absolutely LOVE what I do. The reason? I do multiple things that bring comfort and relief to the people that use me. Whether that is in dealing with insurance claims, or as the case here, with my skills as forensic engineer. Not only am I am Expert with engineering, due to the nature of the work that I do, I have become an expert in image assessment.
Most of the work I do as an “expert witness” in the assessment of vehicles are “CIVIL LAW” cases. This case was different, this was a CRIMINAL case. This case was very interesting and had quite a story behind it.
My customer sought an expert who could assess images, the reason being was that it was alleged that he had damaged a Garage owners car as a result dispute where they got in a fight. It was alleged that my customer had thrown the garage owner over the bonnet of is Aston Martin.
I was asked to assess images of the Aston Martin from CCTV footage and some images and advise whether I could see damage.
But this is not the start, being in court can be very scary, that is just the civil courts, with this being a criminal case, there was a very real possibility that this customer could end up in prison. We had a phone consultation, I explained what my role as an expert witness is, what I can do, what I cannot do. I also explained the legal system and how it operates.
All of this dispute stemmed from the Garage owner failing the customers Honda Civic on its MOT, when it should have passed. The garage were completely in the wrong for failing it, became very abusive and aggressive to this clients girlfriend, looking to assault her, as any male seeing his girlfriend about to get hit, would, he intervened. This spilled out on to the car park and between the cars.
As a result of my investigations, I identified no damage on the garage owners vehicle. This went to court, I was asked to physically inspect the vehicle some 300 miles away. The conclusion was the same.
Presenting evidence in front of a Jury and being cross examined by CPS Advocate requires experience and professionalism.
The case was concluded on the basis that my reports and evidence was accepted, and that the Garage owner had lied about the damage to his vehicle. This resulted in my customer not going to prison.
I was just doing my job. Assessing what I can see, being the “eyes and ears” of the court, and translating technical matters into laymans terms.
For the customer, it was something else… Having had their life put on hold for two years , with the uncertainty of not knowing where they future might lie??? It brought an end to the case.
I take great pride in what I do, think very carefully whilst undertaking inspections and in preparing the report, so it can withstand cross examination. #qualitycounts
What I love, is having the feedback like this , where I am truly changing peoples lives, the satisfaction I get in recieving letters like this, is very humbling. So many thanks to my customer, for both the letter and for these.
