The Use and Abuse of Science and Expert Witnesses in the Court

Speaker: Dr Itiel Dror

Chair: Professor David Ormerod (UCL Centre for Criminal Law)

About this talk

Expert witnesses are highly regarded by the courts as they are deemed to provide impartial and objective evidence. Indeed, experts often provide valuable evidence that is critical for administering fair justice. However, cognitive insights into the way experts operate and how the brain processes information exposes circumstances in which expert scientific evidence may be far from objective or being impartial. Research and real casework have demonstrated instances in which experts (e.g., forensic DNA and fingerprinting) have provided biased and erroneous conclusions. This talk will present the factors that play a role in creating bias in experts, why such weaknesses are inherent to expert decision making, and suggest practical ways to mitigate bias.

Background readings:

* Bias in forensic evidence, published in Science magazine: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aat8443     
* Six fallacies and eight sources of expert bias: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00704

About the speaker

Dr. Dror's academic work relates to theoretical issues underlying human performance and cognition. His research examines the information processing involved in perception, judgment and decision-making. Dr. Itiel Dror has published dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles and serves as Associate Editor and on the Editorial Boards of several scientific journals.

Dr. Itiel Dror's specialty is in taking the most theoretical scientific understanding of the human mind, brain and cognition, and translating it into practical and tangible ways to improve human performance in real world domains. This applied research has primarily focused on enhanced cognition through training, decision-making, and use of technology. For example, Dr Dror has advised how to use technology (e.g., interactive videos, web design, gaming) to make training more effective, helped organizations understand the cognitive aptitudes and skills needed for specific task performance (and designed tools useful to predict job performance and for selection & screening), developed ways to minimize expert examiners’ vulnerability to confirmation and other cognitive biases, and conducted research and training on how to best utilize technology in the workplace.

The applied research has taken place in a variety of countries and has included governmental bodies (such as the UK Passport and Identity Services, Department of Health; the US Air Force; and Police Forces in the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Australia) and commercial companies (such as Orange, Deutsche Bank, PWC, and IBM), as well as providing expert reports and testimonies in court cases (such as in the Levi Bellfield case in the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey in London).

More information is at:  https://www.cci-hq.com/dr.-itiel-dror.html

Booking

This event is free of charge to attend and is in-person only.

Book your place