Expert Witness

 Behind the scenes with a real-life forensic scientist

by Dr Anna Sandiford
 RRP: $32.99 | HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS

The first book in New Zealand about real independent forensic science using real

cases from New Zealand and around the world.

I am standing in a large, old, unfurnished room with a partially concrete floor and only one exit. A convicted murderer stands between me and the exit. There’s nowhere to hide.…

The carpet has been put down by me. David Bain does indeed stand between me and the exit. That’s because he’s been told to stand there while I finish getting everything sorted out.

—     Dr Anna Sandiford

Expert Witness is an insight into the real workings of a real forensic scientist. It’s not like CSI and Bones and it doesn’t involve wearing designer clothes to crime scenes. It’s not about trying to keep guilty people out of prison, putting innocent people in prison or having an opinion on whether an individual is guilty or not guilty.

It’s about looking at circumstances of cases and seeing what the science is telling us. It’s about making sure that if science is used to put a person in prison, then that science has been fully, fairly and accurately reported.

Dr Anna Sandiford has been involved with forensic science since 1998 and has prepared over a thousand reports on a variety of evidence types, largely for the defence but also for the prosecution, and has peer-reviewed and assessed thousands of reports in a wide variety of forensic scientific fields.

Dr Sandiford was also involved in what has dubbed by the New Zealand media to be the ‘Trial of the Century’ — the 2009 David Bain retrial.

In Expert Witness, Dr Anna Sandiford explores what forensic science is like from the view of an independent expert, what they do and what it is like to give evidence in court. Anna also challenges the myths created by popular TV series.

The book looks at the different areas of forensic science expertise using casework examples that include the complications of drink driving and collecting pollen samples from corpses and blood samples from sock prints.

 Dr Anna Sandiford is an English-born and New Zealand-based independent forensic science consultant, who holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Geology, a Master of Science in Micropalaeontology (microfossils), a Doctor of Philosophy in Geology and Palynology (pollen analysis), and a Postgraduate Certificate of Proficiency in Forensic Science.