Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Crime and the Courtroom
Episode: #99: How Much Control Should Judges Have Over the Testimony of Expert Witnesses?
Description: Judges hold tremendous power in the American criminal justice system, and possibly more power than we realize. In this episode of Crime and the Courtroom, John Collins shares his thoughts about a trend being encountered by expert witnesses whose testimony is being limited or controlled by judges. In some cases, the identification of latent prints or firearms is being rejected, and judges are instead instructing expert witnesses on what they can or cannot say. Is this even permissible? John also discusses what he describes as "the nuclear option," a tactic that judges could adopt, if they chose to, that...