Foreword

• Author: Elizabeth F. Loftus
• Profession: Distinguished Professor
• Pages: 11-13

[xi]

Foreword to the First Edition

  ’ excellent book on expert evidence in criminal law, someone

notes that the age of the expert has truly arrived because great portions of trials

are now consumed by expert testimony. I should know as I have played a part

in this endeavour, having testied in over  trials during the last quarter-cen-

tury. Although I make every eort to be scientical ly accurate, I recognize that

personal biases (for example, an abiding belief that a defendant is innocent)

might oc casionally a ect my testimony, however s ubtly.

Expert Evidence in Criminal Law: e Scientic Approach makes clear the

problems that courts have faced when dubious testimony about single cases, or

about a study that involves multiple cases, is proered. Lawyers and judges are

not typically in a good position to scrutinize the testimony as thoroughly as it

should b e. One less on from the e xamples t hat Gold prov ides is th at it is impo rt-

ant to continually ask not only “What is the evidence for your claim?” but to

insist that the “expert” provide more than authors of the study and where it was

published, and be able to describe precisely what form the evidence takes.

is book is an eye-opener to anyone who mistakenly believes all experts

and their evidence can be trusted as the truth. Although Gold admits that ex-

pert scientic evidence has contributed greatly to the administration of justice,

he points out the concerns about the quality of this evidence and the lack of

scientic litera cy of judges and law yers— to say noth ing of ordinary jury mem-

bers whose scientic education is equally minimal. Gold gives many examples

of “junk science” used in the justice system, and he shows you how to dierenti-

ate between the worthwhile and the worthless “expert” evidence, stating that

the scientic perspective contains “the only reliable standard by which opin-

ions can be judged.” Reading this book will give you the necessary questions