Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic medicine and Toxicology. Vol. 1Witthaus, R. A. (Rudolph August)
Science
Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic medicine and Toxicology. Vol. 1
Witthaus, R. A. (Rudolph August)
Medical jurisprudence; Poisons; Toxicology
_They Must Obey the Summons and Appear and be Sworn. In General they
need Not Give their Opinions unless Duly Compensated._—An expert
witness is brought into court like an ordinary witness by the usual
process of the court. This process is, under the American system, an
ordinary subpœna, and, being process of the court, whether or not he
has been paid or promised compensation for giving his opinion he must
obey the process to the extent at least of appearing in court when
called, to be sworn. Interesting questions have been raised as to his
obedience to the subpœna to the extent of testifying when he has not
been compensated. It has been argued, and the argument is sustained
by the decisions of courts of high authority in some States, that
his knowledge and skill, acquired by study and by experience, is his
property, of which he cannot be deprived without just compensation,
under his constitutional rights guaranteed to him by the organic law
of this country. On the other hand, in some other States it has been
held that he is so far a necessary part of the judicial system that he
may be called upon to give the results of his experience, knowledge,
and skill forming his opinion, without payment other than the ordinary
compensation to witnesses. It is believed, however, that the better
opinion is the former; that he does not stand on the same footing as
an ordinary witness, whose province it is to testify solely to matters
of observation of fact, but that he stands in the position of one who
has something to give; something to impart in the way of knowledge or
experience, which is his property as much as any other thing movable or
immovable of which he is possessed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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