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Abstract: 

Many of our readers serve as expert witnesses, and those who do have likely been challenged by opposing counsel. We devote nearly half of this issue to an in-depth examination of such challenges, as illustrated by a case involving the death by suicide of William Goetzee, a commander in the U.S. Coast Guard and also a civilian employee, while an inmate in the New Orleans jail. Dr. Jeff Metzner was retained as a plaintiff’s expert in Nagle v. Gusman, only to have defendants lodge a series of complaints about his expertise and the two written reports he had prepared. We present here an edited version of Judge Sarah S. Vance’s Order and Reasons for her rejecting the defendants’ motion. A careful reading of what follows should be the equivalent of reading a mini-treatise on expert medical/psychiatric testimony in a custodial suicide case.

Keywords: Expert Witness Qualifications; ‘Daubert’ challenge; Standard of Medical Care; Inmate Mortality Reviews

Affiliations:  1: Editor.