Our legal system asserts that it provides justice before the law, but not everyone would agree that the system is designed to ensure it. Civil and criminal cases bring about some difficult issues and science, along with some common sense, can often provide solutions. One example of this is DNA, a tool which can guard against false conclusions, but that can also be misleading. Our ability to differentiate between good, reliable science and junk science is key to this.

This CLE course will explain how to make these differentiations. The course will explain Federal Rule 702 on expert testimony, Daubert and its progeny and others. These tools and others provide the framework for DNA, fingerprints, handwriting, the polygraph, striations on bullets, and cell phones that offer a map of a person’s movements. All of these are useful, but none are 100% reliable. This course will address these issues as well as those that arise from snitch testimony, psychopathic liar witnesses, “tricked” confessions, and a biased tribunal.