NCJ Number
187051
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: 2000 Pages: 449-453
Date Published
2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A pilot questionnaire surveyed forensic psychiatrists and psychologists about information they believe is appropriate to disclose to their retaining attorneys about an opposing expert witness.
Abstract
The respondent sample consisted of those members of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law who had played no role in the questionnaire design, as well as attendees at a 1999 workshop advertised as focusing on unexplored aspects of expert witness practice. Although neither representative nor random, the sample was purposeful. Participants completed a questionnaire that inquired about a variety of issues, including a spectrum of possible disclosures -- ranging from those that might be considered objective and factual to those that would be considered subjective and personal -- that one side's expert might or might not make to the retaining attorney about the opposing expert. Questions were organized in order of increasing encroachment on personal privacy or increasing possible stigma from the information to be disclosed. A total of 37 usable questionnaires were returned for analysis (one-third response rate). The survey results imply that respondents mostly viewed their expert functions and those of the opposing expert as public and open. In their choice of disclosures, respondents drew more from their professional and scientific roles than from the personal "secrets" and presumed biases of the opposing expert. The wide variation on some responses, however, indicates the need for both open discussion about and further study of these issues. 11 references