Grant Dickinson's 10 Commandments for Cross Examination

On September 1, 2015, PDA board member Grant Dickinson presented at the Court Improvement Program Attorney Skills Training on the topic of Cross Examination.  Above are a copy of his slides that include helpful tips on how to prepare for cross examination of experts.

If the above slides don't load, try THIS LINK.

Registration is OPEN for the CIP Attorney Skills Training

The Court Improvement Program Steering Committee invites you to register for the 2015 CIP Attorney Skills Training. 

This is a complimentary 2-day training designed specifically for Utah's child welfare attorneys. We have an excellent program planned that includes national and local presenters who will address the following topics:

• Juvenile Court eFiling, including a live demonstration, online training resources, and one-on-one assistance at our eFiling lab
• Trauma-informed practice as it relates to children, parents, and YOU
• Ethics - Conflicts of Interest
• Direct and cross examination of expert witnesses
• How to identify the perpetrator
• Film screening of the documentary Tough Love http://www.toughlovefilm.com/

A final agenda will be distributed prior to the training. CLE approval pending. 

Date

The training begins Monday, August 31st at 10 am and ends on Tuesday, September 1st at 3 pm. 

Registration:

Registration closes August 7th, but register soon to ensure hotel room availability.

To register online, click here or paste this link into your URL bar: 

https://utahcip.wufoo.com/forms/2015-cip-attorney-skills-training-registration/

Lodging:

Zermatt Resort, 784 West Resort Dr., Midway, UT 84049

https://zermattresort.com/

Lodging is complimentary and available on the following nights:

Sunday, August 30th --  only for participants who must travel more than 50 miles from their home office. 

Monday, August 31st -- available for ANY PARTICIPANT regardless of distance they must travel.

**Please do not contact the hotel to reserve lodging. Instead, indicate on the registration form the nights you will need lodging and you will be included on a rooming list.

Travel

Mileage reimbursement will be provided. Complimentary parking is available on-site. 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at gabriellaa@utcourts.gov or (801) 578-3939.

On behalf of the CIP Training Steering Committee, we look forward to seeing you in August!

New York Court Grants New Trial in Case of Baby Sitter Accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome

On December 16, 2014, a New York court overturned a murder conviction for Shaken Baby Syndrome.

While in the care of a day care provider a two and a half year old died after falling from a bench.  The day care provider was convicted of murder under the theory of Shaken Baby Syndrome.  A post-conviction motion asked the court for a new trial under the theory that new scientific research regarding the characteristics of Shaken Baby Syndrome undermined the reliability of the verdict.  The court agreed with the defense that a child can, in fact, die from a "short fall" and ordered a new trial based on the newly discovered evidence (i.e. advances in scientific research).

You can find a copy of the opinion HERE.

Robert Latham's Report on the NCADRC Conference

National Child Abuse Defense & Resource Center 2014 Conference Report

“General acceptance” is not a necessary precondition to the admissibility of scientific evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence, but the Rules of Evidence -- especially Rule 702 -- do assign to the trial judge the task of ensuring that an expert's testimony both rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the task at hand. Pertinent evidence based on scientifically valid principles will satisfy those demands.

--Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993) (emphasis supplied); see also Utah Rule of Evidence 702 and Advisory Committee Note.

The Daubert case involved an allegation supported by expert testimony that a controlled substance caused a birth defect, and thus relates to many child abuse claims underlying child welfare cases. The National Child Abuse Defense & Resource Center (www.falseallegation.org), a non-profit volunteer organization, has been organizing conferences every two years to help legal professionals confront and debunk “junk science” presented in support of child abuse allegations.

The NCADRC assembled an impressive lineup of speakers, some of whom have been so successful in frustrating the efforts of state attorneys to traumatize innocent children and families with false allegations of child abuse that they have been maligned at a National District Attorneys Association conference as members of an “axis of evil.”

Did a child witness correctly recount an incident? Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D. and Maggie Bruck, Ph.D. may have valuable insights calling into question the reliability of and influences that can impact the witnesses’ memory. Was the Reid Technique of interviewing and interrogation used to question your parent client? The work of Richard Ofshe, Ph.D. may explain how your client was coerced into a false confession.

How can the trier of fact distinguish between a non-accidental injury suggesting child abuse, or a differential diagnosis or “mimic” -- a medical condition that can often be misdiagnosed as child abuse and neglect? Patrick Barnes, M.D. offers his insights as a pediatric radiologist in this era of evidence-based medicine to explain the difference. Is a child’s failure to thrive evidence of parental neglect, or caused by an inborn error of metabolism, such as fructose intolerance, galactosemia, or phenylketonuria? The expertise of Piero Rinaldo, M.D. can inform the inquiry.

Counsel appointed to represent indigent parents facing allegations of child abuse should consider retaining experts to respond to the state’s experts. Counsel may apply for reimbursement of the expert from the Parental Defense Alliance of Utah and the Office of Child Welfare and Parental Defense.

I am grateful to the PDA of Utah for sponsoring my attendance at this conference, and strongly recommend that other parental defenders contact the NCADRC to receive notice of its future conferences, which convene every two years.