Expert Witness

The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance

By: Ann Wolbert Burgess, Steven Matthew Constantine

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

From the author of the critically-acclaimed true crime account, A Killer By Design (the inspiration behind Hulu's original docuseries, Mastermind), a groundbreaking look into the crucial role played by expert witnesses in the most high-profile criminal cases, based on Dr. Ann Burgess’ personal experiences within the criminal justice system.

Written through Burgess’ singular lens of compassion and lived experience, Expert Witness pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cases in the last thirty years—from Bill Cosby to the Menendez brothers to Larry Nassar—to reveal the deeply human stories behind the trials that have captivated a nation. The book explores the role of expert witnesses in high stakes court cases, offering first-hand accounts and never-before-seen interviews with attorneys, victims, and offenders.

Expert Witness places readers inside the mind of the nation’s most prominent courtroom expert, following Burgess as she takes on one seismic case after the next. Throughout the narrative, each case deepens the reader’s understanding of the art and science of expert testimony, taking readers from the women’s movement of the 1970s to the #MeToo movement of today—one of the largest social reckonings in recent history. At its core, Expert Witness is a story of empowerment. It’s a story of compassion and the ever-increasing need for individuals to stand up and speak truth to power or to popular opinion. And it's ultimately a story of how revolutionary one voice can be.

Engaging narrative of famous true crimes

Author’s involvement as an expert analyst for criminal cases is a valuable addition to our understanding of the effects of experiences on victims including the lasting psychological trauma of rape victims. A wide variety of important cases - goes much deeper than surface headlines or assumptions. Excellent narration made this an engaging story.

Outstanding.

This is a smart, human, evidence-based, and compelling look at the research and preparation that should (and did here) go into expert testimony in criminal prosecution. Definitely recommend it.

Not worth 5 hours of your life

Not a good listen. The holier than thou attitude throughout the book rubbed me incredibly wrong, especially as a practicing attorney that interacts with expert witnesses all the time. Ex: she basically scoffed at an attorney for alleging bias based on her being paid and compared it to jurors being paid. A 3rd grader would know the difference between those two situations.

Couldn’t keep my attention

90% of the cases she talked Scott she played no roll in. It felt like rambling to me

Occasionally Cringeworthy

(Note: The Audible app cannot handle contractions so I have to write this like a Damon Runyon dialog). I do not want to rip on Burgess too hard because she is 89 and made significant contributions to criminal justice. But I cannot help but cringe every time she refers to the Menendez brothers as boys. They were 18 and 21 at the time they shotgunned their parents between tennis lessons. Her unabashed, un-objective, and unprofessional all-in belief in the sex abuse allegations she manufactured by her own admission while staying at the home of their defense attorney ruined a book I was really looking forward to reading. If it were not for the excellent narration of the reader I would not have listened past that chapter.