In this episode of Cross Lab, hosts Steve Hohman and Olivia Espinosa are joined by plaintiff’s attorney Mark Choate and criminal defense/DUI attorneys Chuck Rathburn and Bruce Ringstrom.

Watch them cross-examine Olivia, who portrays a toxicologist and expert witness on behalf of the state. They’ll challenge the expert’s opinion on the validity of the BAC and blood draw procedures.

What’s covered in this episode:

How crossing an expert witness can change your word selection
The hidden role gender can play in your cross-examination
An easy demonstrative to illustrate percentage points for your jury
Using the expert to expose mishandlings in the case and create reasonable doubt
What taking a moment to pause can do to a witness
The trap you can fall into when you know their case well—and how to fix it

Time Stamps

00:00 What’s Cross Lab?

04:05 How an expert witness can change your approach to word selection

12:06 Mock Case Overview: State of Washington vs. Oscar Phillips

13:28 Chuck Rathburn’s Cross: Painting a clear picture of contamination

27:05 Approaching gender with an expert?

33:03 Simple demonstratives to illustrate the difference a few percentage points can make in BAC levels

35:17 Mark Choate’s Cross: Determining the level of intoxication

45:51 Leveraging the expert to expose other mishandlings in the case and create reasonable doubt

53:06 Bruce Ringstrom’s Cross: Exposing the expert’s lack of hands-on involvement

1:06:46 The impact your reset has on a witness

1:10:14 Top takeaways if you had to cross a witness like this

1:12:37 The trap of knowing too much—and how to fix it

To get free resources for your next trial go to HausImprov.com