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

Toxicologist and expert witness for the state on contaminated evidence

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