Deck 12: Opinion Evidence

Question 1

As a general rule, a witness should only give factual evidence and not give their opinion. The main exceptions are if they are asked to do so by the judge or they are expert witnesses.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

On which of the following can a medical expert on sexual disease give his/her opinion? An expert may only give opinion evidence about their field. Like other witnesses, they cannot give general opinion evidence or evidence not in their field of expertise.

A)How A.I.D.S. can affect a defendant's behaviour
B)How the weather affects driving conditions
C)How swine flu can affect a defendant
D)What speed (s)he thinks is a fast running pace

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements are correct? Who an 'expert' is, is based on qualifications and/or past experience. There is no statutory definition except in rare circumstances such as who can provide expert evidence as to insanity.

A)An expert witness must always have recognised qualifications
B)Expert witnesses are limited to only providing opinion evidence within their field of expertise or if asked to do so by a court
C)A judge may call his own expert evidence
D)In general who an 'expert' is, is statutorily defined

Answer 3

B, C

Question 4

An expert can be chosen from which of the following fields? An expert can come from any field of expertise whatsoever and does not have to be formally qualified, but must have sufficient experience.

A)Science
B)Academia
C)Hobby enthusiast
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 5

Upon which of the following may an expert NOT rely to back-up their expert evidence? An expert may only rely upon admissible evidence to corroborate their expert opinion and unpublished evidence is admissible but only if its source is acknowledged.

A)Scientific work which is unpublished, but the source is not acknowledged
B)Their own work
C)Unpublished data, the source of which is acknowledged
D)Peer-reviewed publications

Question 6

In which of the following hearings will the competence of an expert witness be determined? The other answers are not relevant in this context and there is also no such hearing as A or C.

A)Res gestae
B)Newton hearing
C)Galbraith hearing
D)Voir dire

Question 7

Which of the following statements by a non-expert witness would be permissible? The others are all pure opinion and thus not permitted. Whilst drunkenness is an opinion, it is so closely tied with the crime in C that it is allowed.

A)""I saw Bob kill the cat because he's evil""
B)""I don't know why you need me here at all, he's clearly guilty""
C)""He was drunk and then he got in his car and drove off. I saw him drink at least 7 pints""
D)""If Dave hadn't been so angry, he wouldn't have done it""

Question 8

A court can admit expert evidence on the actions of a defendant, and will often do so with regards to their mens rea as well.

Question 9

Experts must have over 10 years experience to be called as expert witnesses. The question of whether an individual is an expert or not is a matter for the judge. It is entirely subjective so a person who has practised medicine for 20 years may not be an expert if they have only done so on few occasions. Similarly, a person who has been doing their hobby for only 5 years may be an expert if the hobby activity was only invented 7 years ago.

Question 10

The parties in a civil case can use a jointly-appointed expert. This is actively encouraged and a court may direct that this will happen under CPR Rule 35.7.

Question 11

Section 78 of P.A.C.E. can be used to exclude a non-expert's evidence but not expert evidence. Section 78 provides a general discretion to disallow any evidence- including expert evidence which can be excluded in the same manner as non-expert evidence.

Question 12

Where a party does not like or agree with an expert's findings, they do not have to use that expert. Parties are free to use whichever experts they like and can reject an expert for any reason whatsoever.

Question 13

A non-expert witness can give their opinion on what speed a car was travelling at. Section 89(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 allows any witness to estimate a vehicle's speed

Question 14

Expert evidence must be accepted, whereas a judge or jury does not have to accept the evidence of other witnesses. The tribunal of fact treats expert evidence, like any evidence they see or hear in court, in any way they wish. They can believe all, some, or none of it.

Question 15

On which of the following can a medical expert on sexual disease give his/her opinion? An expert may only give opinion evidence about their field. Like other witnesses, they cannot give general opinion evidence or evidence not in their field of expertise.

A)How A.I.D.S. can affect a defendant's behaviour
B)How the weather affects driving conditions
C)How swine flu can affect a defendant
D)What speed (s)he thinks is a fast running pace