Computer Forensics For Dummies®

Chapter 19. Ten Tactics of an Excellent Investigator and a Dangerous Expert Witness

In This Chapter

• Enhancing your computer forensics career

• Knowing how to withstand tricky tactics

• Getting your message to the judge and jury

A lot is riding on your being a determined and ethical investigator and an expert witness: the justice system; your career success; someone's quality of life or liberty, such as defendants, victims (if any), and their families. Many professional careers have ended abruptly and painfully as a result of how the media handled their personal e-mail or exposed the digital trails of their activities. The same thing happens in the courtroom, so you should read about and apply these tactics to be prepared to perform convincingly and fairly. Don't get tricked or trapped by opposing counsel!

Life in your forensic lab doesn't resemble life in the courtroom. You don't have the home team advantage. Plus, the court's way of operating may be bizarre. The practice of law is loaded with theory. Lawyers argue, expound, and pontificate about the legal and evidentiary issues and how they want the jury to interpret the facts of the case. In contrast, you, as an expert witness, generally work with hard facts and only with evidentiary issues. In a legal duel with opposing lawyers, defending your interpretation about what those facts mean or what they represent may not be easy. This chapter presents ten other warnings and words of advice.

Stick to Finding and Telling the Truth

You've heard ...