how would you lay out a statement of witness if you were an expert, being asked to give evidence?

Answer 1

Best way is a time line. Everything in chronological order. Who, What, Where, How, and Why can be more easily understood when a time line is established.

Answer 2

ill tell you what i tell student PC's im teaching,
the CPS and a court like a certain formatt.

The like it like so

I am (name) and i hold the position of (job) for (how long held it)
my experience is (very brief education in relevant field and how that makes you an expert)
This statement is in relation to (whatever crime)
The place i shall mention is (whatever relevant place is)
The persons i shall mention are (the relevant persons by name, description if relevant, and relation to you, like offender, colleague etc)

On ( day) (date) (time) at (location) .......
(chronological order of events, including people and place names in capitals)

Facts first, then informed conlusions, and how you reached them.


then at the end

" i support prosecution, and will attend court if required"

Amount of time incident lasted
Distance from anything witnessed each time
Visibility is witnesse an incident
Obstructions to your view of anything relevant how long obstructed and by what
is the suspect or involved person Known to you
Any reason to remember anything you witnesses, like was it out of the oridnary

and descriptions should be "ten point"
colour, build, age, height, hair style+colour, clothing, carrying anything , facial hair, accent, distinguishing features

Answer 3

Bottom line is to "tell the truth and nothing but the truth". When compiling your statement, think of the 4 W's and the H as one does in writing an essay: Answer who, what, when, where and how.

Answer 4

State what your expert qualifications are first, i.e. "I am a professor of linguistics based at X university. I have an honours degree in X. I have practised speech analysis for X years" etc etc.