Role of Woburn's Expert Witnesses

Overview

expert witnesses have become much more commonplace in the modern American court system, for a description of an expert to roll in court see Expert Witnesses in the American Court System. The Woburn toxic trial is an excellent example of how experts or relied upon to drive the opinion of the Court. On this page we will look at who some of the experts were, and how they affected the outcome of the trial.

Woburn's Experts

The Woburn toxic trial was one of the most publicized trials to utilize the skills of hydrogeologist. It's a wonderful case study for looking at how experts can interpret similar data differently, and how these differences can be conveyed to a lay audience. The pretrial depositions also utilized numerous medical experts, but one of Judge Skinner's Controversial Rulings split the trial in three phases, where medical evidence would not be entered unless the first phase was successfully completed. So the medical experts never had their day at the trial. The following are a list of the geology experts who testified:

Plaintiffs' Expert Witnesses

John Drobinski (geologist), George Pinder (hydrogeologist)

Beatrice Expert Witnesses

Ellis Koch (hydrogeologist), Olin Braids (geochemist)

W.R. Grace Expert Witnesses

Steven Maslansky (geologist), John Guswa (hydrogeologist)

The Experts and the Woburn Trial

The individuals listed above were recognized as experts within their specific niche within the geological sciences. Each uniquely contributed to their client's arguments. Drobinski was a meticulous field geologist, while Pinder was a colorful orator as well as an expert groundwater modeler. Ellis Koch likewise was a groundwater modeler, and Olin Braids testified as to the natural degradation of the chlorinated solvents as an indicator of the solvents time spent in the natural environment. Likewise, Steven Malansky was an accomplished field geologist and Jack Guswa was a Ph.D. hydrogeologist from the esteemed Penn State University. One of the interesting interplay's which was briefly touched on in the book and hardly even demonstrated in the movie related to the experts ability to understand one another, while often confusing the court and the jury. In the records of their testimony, there are subtle descriptions of how groundwater, geology and the contaminants interacted, and these points were diversely interpreted in ways that seem to favor the particular clients view. Keep in mind these gentlemen were all working from essentially the same data.

Experts in the Mock Trial

The success and enjoyment of the mock trial role-play can be affected by how well students research the characters and their interpretation of the geologic data. The students will need to try to outguess their opponents interpretations and present their arguments in a very persuasive fashion. Reviewing trial transcripts can show some of the frustrations as well as successes that were exhibited by the individuals referenced earlier on this page. Remind students that the trial procedure does not allow witnesses to view the opposition's testimony, so they should not know what their rivals have presented in court. Engaging students to learn how to understand the scientific process and be able to practice it in the mock fashion during a trial is an exceptional learning experience.