For decades no law enforcement program has been as cloaked in controversy and mystery as the Federal Witness Protection Program. Now, for the first time, Gerald Shur, the man credited with the creation of WITSEC, teams with acclaimed investigative journalist Pete Earley to tell the inside story of turncoats, crime-fighters, killers, and ordinary human beings caught up in a life-and-death game of deception in the name of justice.

WITSEC
Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program

When the government was losing the war on organized crime in the early 1960s, Gerald Shur, a young attorney in the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, urged the department to entice mobsters into breaking their code of silence with promises of protection and relocation. But as high-ranking mob figures came into the program, Shur discovered that keeping his witnesses alive in the face of death threats involved more than eradicating old identities and creating new ones. It also meant cutting off families from their pasts and giving new identities to wives and children, as well as to mob girlfriends and mistresses.

It meant getting late-night phone calls from protected witnesses unable to cope with their new lives. It meant arranging funerals, providing financial support, and in one instance even helping a mobster's wife get breast implants. And all too often it meant odds that a protected witness would return to what he knew best-crime.

In this book Shur gives a you-are-there account of infamous witnesses, from Joseph Valachi to Sammy the Bull Gravano to Fat Vinnie Teresa, of the lengths the program goes to to keep its charges safe, and of cases that went very wrong and occasionally even protected those who went on to kill again.

He describes the agony endured by innocent people who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in a program tailored to criminals. And along with Shur's war stories, WITSEC draws on the haunting words of one mob wife, who vividly describes her life of lies, secrecy, and loss inside the program.

A powerful true story of the inner workings of one of the most effective and controversial weapons in the war against organized crime and the inner workings of organized crime itself-and more recently against Colombian drug dealers, outlaw motorcycle gang members, white-collar con men, and international terrorists-this book takes us into a tense, dangerous twilight world carefully hidden in plain sight: where the family living next door might not be who they say they are. . .

From the experts in litigation communication comes this much-requested compilation of tips for helping lawyers in civil cases prepare witnesses for testimony in deposition and at trial. This manual is filled with tools to help you do what you will spend most of your time actually doing with your most important fact witnesses: finding out what they know, helping them think about how to testify to it clearly and accurately, and preparing them for questioning at deposition by an adverse party's attorney. This small book is packed with substance and will be your constant companion and reference.

If you are in an executive role, you have been in the Hotseat. You've been grilled. Roasted. You know what it feels like. Ever wonder how people who are constantly under attack from lawyers learn how to get through it? Now, from a leading consultant in communication, this little book oh-so-creatively teaches the principles of preparation for legal testimony and for acting as a corporate spokesperson. You can learn these skills, learn to think like a witness, and apply it to situations where, like it or not, you are in the spotlight. And you won't believe how well it works Managerial and executive readers will find highly useful insights here that will also reduce the stress caused by those tough board and commission meetings. They will find surprisingly compact and portable ideas; tools to help get them through what might be the most difficult aspect of their job. In many organizations, as in life, it's not how you handle success, it's how you handle adversity. This book will help you handle it and handle it well.

A one-stop guide to testifying in court for mental health professionals

Even the most seasoned mental health professionals can find themselves unnerved by the prospect of appearing in court, especially when presented with it for the first time. Those in the mental health field usually have no formal preparation for testifying in court, even though they often play an important part in many types of cases.

The Portable Guide to Testifying in Court for Mental Health Professionals provides a concise yet comprehensive guide for practitioners preparing to appear in court. The authors employ their combined decades of legal work in the mental health field to provide a clear, no-nonsense handbook of what to expect, how to prepare, and what to look out for when testifying in court.

Along with a general introduction to courts and the legal system, the text details topics such as:
* Testifying both as an expert and involuntary witness
* Protecting clients when bringing therapy into testimony
* Preparing for testimony
* Tips to use and lawyers' tricks to look out for when testifying in court


Throughout the book, Bernstein and Hartsell use detailed case studies to provide specific examples. In addition, legal light bulbs offer important tips and facts, and appendices list relevant Web resources and provide common legal forms.

A one-of-a-kind resource, The Portable Guide to Testifying in Court for Mental Health Professionals gives a complete view of your role in courtroom proceedings, offering a vital tool for both legal and mental health practices.

Recent work in artificial intelligence has increasingly turned to argumentation as a rich, interdisciplinary area of research that can provide new methods related to evidence and reasoning in the area of law. Douglas Walton provides an introduction to basic concepts, tools and methods in argumentation theory and artificial intelligence as applied to the analysis and evaluation of witness testimony. He shows how witness testimony is by its nature inherently fallible and sometimes subject to disastrous failures. At the same time such testimony can provide evidence that is not only necessary but inherently reasonable for logically guiding legal experts to accept or reject a claim. Walton shows how to overcome the traditional disdain for witness testimony as a type of evidence shown by logical positivists, and the views of trial sceptics who doubt that trial rules deal with witness testimony in a way that yields a rational decision-making process.

In his latest collection of essays for forensic psychologists, Stanley L. Brodsky extends the lessons of his popular Testifying in Court series by focusing on the cross-examination, the trial phase that expert witnesses dread most. A leading teacher, scholar, and expert witness, Dr. Brodsky offers lessons and advice from the trenches to defuse the vulnerability psychologists may feel on the witness stand.

More than 50 brief essays, each summarized by a maxim, teach readers about the typical techniques attorneys use to challenge experts' credibility and the basis of their opinions. Pointers on preparation and effective narrative style are included, backed by findings from the emerging literature on the assessment of expert testimony.

Expert Witness Training is packed with practical details and instruction about becoming, being, and succeeding as an expert witness. It features more than one hundred specific tactics for use by the specialist retained by an attorney as an expert witness. This comprehensive training program incorporates thorough explanations of qualifications, opinion formation and expression, testifying skills, witness credibility, and jury persuasion. Written in confident tutorial form by an experienced expert and teacher, it includes the latest references and legal standards needed by a well-trained expert witness for admissibility of evidence and testimony, as well as Federal Rules of Evidence and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and Daubert challenges. This book covers issues of importance to every expert from the perspective of the witness, along with perceptive insight into the attorney's mindset. Attorneys wishing to learn what experienced expert witnesses know and think should have a copy and copies for each of their experts.

Keep track of all the documents you notarized Keep your own records for future reference and possible use in this handy notary public record book. Write the information of your client, the services you rendered and the fees you charged. This book is extremely handy to spot legal trends and identify the needs of your clientele.

Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals may be experts in their respective fields, but this expertise does not easily translate to effective courtroom testimony. Even veteran expert witnesses can encounter new challenges in these high-pressure situations, especially during a cross-examination where every statement and gesture can be scrutinized by an attorney searching for ways to dispute the expert's credibility and opinions.

For more than two decades, Stanley L. Brodsky has taught expert witnesses simple and practical strategies they can use to negotiate challenges in the courtroom and give strong, effective testimony. In this thorough update to his classic guide, Brodsky and his equally prolific coauthor, Thomas G. Gutheil, continue to provide sage, humorous advice that will put expert witnesses at ease and allow them to comport themselves with poise and confidence throughout direct and cross-examination. Short chapters punctuated by memorable maxims draw from the authors' expansive personal experiences, as well as research and stories from other expert expert witnesses, to create this must-have resource that will inform and entertain expert witnesses for many years.

Impeachment of witnesses is an alien, mystifying, and obtuse area of the law, write the authors of MacCarthy on Impeachment. While there are many books on evidence and trial advocacy, there is very little written specifically on impeachment. For the trial lawyer and judge, it is one of the most confusing and misunderstood parts of the trial. Just as cross examination is the most difficult of trial skills, impeachment, usually a part of cross examination, is the most difficult of the difficult. Many, if not most, trial lawyers do not know what they can or cannot do to impeach. Most importantly, they do not know how to do what they can do.

MacCarthy on Impeachment offers trial lawyers weapons of mass destruction. This book reveals those weapons and offers instruction on how to use them. Co-written by the author of the legal classic, MacCarthy on Cross-Examination, MacCarthy on Impeachment is a groundbreaking work that will become an indispensable resource for trial attorneys seeking to improve their skills and better serve their clients.

Preparing Children for Court and its accompanying workbooks will aid social workers, court educators, victim/witness specialists, law enforcement, therapists, and attorneys help children enter the justice system, understand the necessary elements of court rules and structure, and feel confident enough to testify truthfully.

Finding Your Way

This brief-easy-to-understand book explains what happens when a child discloses abuse and how various systems may respond to this disclosure, from investigation through prosecution or juvenile court involvement to therapy.

Getting Ready for Court: Criminal Court Edition

A fun, friendly first step in helping prepare primary-aged children to testify in criminal cases involving abuse.

Getting Ready for court: Civil court Edition

This child-friendly book is a first step in helping prepare primary aged children to testify in civil cases involving abuse.

In Reinventing Witness Preparation, seasoned litigator Kenneth Berman explains the dangers of conventional witness preparation, showing how the common approach to preparing witnesses can foul up a case and hand victory to the other side. This book introduces a new and enlightened approach to witness preparation: that witnesses need to give answers that actually help their cases, and the best time to give the best answer is when the question is first asked. In this book, you will learn: - How to empower witnesses to testify so the fact finder understands the testimony as the witness meant it to be understood - How to teach witnesses ways to give well-informed truthful answers that avoid pitfalls lurking in the questions - How to enable witnesses to answer ambiguous questions and yes or no questions in ways that support the theme of the case - How to protect witnesses from perils that conventional methods of witness preparation fail to prevent and often magnify - How to prepare witnesses so they can earn the fact finder's trust, build credibility, and prevail

The unique and unusual process of becoming an effective expert witness is detailed in this thoroughly informative and entertaining work by one of the securities industry

From opposing the local CPA to tackling the Big Five - Everything you need to know about accounting in the courtroom With the recent boom in litigation and malpractice charges concerning tax, accounting, financial litigation, and fraud disputes, more and more accounting professionals are being hired as expert witnesses. Yet, few lawyers have a full understanding of what accountants can contribute to their cases. And few accountants are familiar enough with the legal system to recognize everything they have to offer as an expert witness. In turn, many relevant issues are missed and financial disputes are often settled with unfavorable outcomes. Conceived and written in the trenches, Expert Witnessing in Forensic Accounting: A Handbook for Lawyers and Accountants candidly shows how to be successful in the courtroom through the hands-on experiences of both a certified public accountant and a trial attorney. Zeph Telpner and Michael Mostek guide you through the entire judicial process - revealing their own and others' mistakes and triumphs along the way and presenting guidelines for everything from choosing an accountant to analyzing the opposing expert's deposition. The law of civil procedure, evidence, expert opinions, trial procedure, and the presentation of expert testimony are a mystery to many accountants and even some lawyers. This straightforward book pulls together all the essential information on the topic. Providing numerous case studies, annotated court documents, expert witness reports, and an actual trial transcript of an expert's testimony, Expert Witnessing in Forensic Accounting: A Handbook for Lawyers and Accountants helps you discover the relevant issues and facts needed to win the dispute. LAWYERS: Know how and when to choose and work with the right forensic accountant Determine whether to hire your forensic accountant as a consultant or an expert witness Decide how early to bring the accounting expert in on the case Discover everything that forensic accountants can accomplish for you Match the accounting expert with the job to be done Help the accountant do a superior job in discovery Use the forensic accountant to the greatest benefit Ask the right questions during direct and cross-examination Build a successful working relationship with the forensic accountant ACCOUNTANTS: Learn how to best advise lawyers during discovery and litigation Discover the procedural and evidentiary rules that most often affect forensic accountant specialists Know how to respond and what to expect while you're on the witness stand Successfully rebut the opinions of the opposing expert accountant Perform superior services in discovery, accounting guidance, and writing expert reports Know how to write a job engagement letter and negotiate fees See how an expert supported the valuation of a particular business in accordance with judicial requirements Build a successful working relationship with the lawyer

Since the Apple/Samsung litigation over the design of smartphones and tablets, the value of ornamental design patents has exploded within the intellectual property community primarily because of the unprecedented amount of money that changed hands for infringing Apple's design patents.

As I testified in that case, other industrial designers have since asked me what does an industrial designer actually do during design patent litigation and how does one become an expert design witness.

This book will give you a glimpse into the career of one of the pioneering industrial designers to serve as an expert design witness in design patent litigation. My first case was in 1992 and I have been involved in about 100 cases since. The products involved include the appearance of bubble wrap, candles, dog food, internal combustion engines, motorized necktie racks, artificial fingernails, smartphones, bricks, toilet paper, scrunchies (elastic pony tail holders), corkscrews and class rings to name a few..

Woodring weaves his many personal experiences into his more pragmatic teachings, making his story a delightful read, full of surprises, humor and human-interest stories that unexpectedly occur during serious courtroom trials, often with millions at stake.

Would you survive the witness box? Would you appear credible? Would you withstand cross examination? Even if you never expect to be giving evidence, the techniques you learn in Witness Success are valuable in everyday life. This expert text will take you only an hour or two to read. Witness Success: 5 Straight Rules For You To Give Good Evidence In A Court Of Law is written by Court Counsel, a practicing trial lawyer with the experience of decades of conducting litigation in law courts around the world. What you will learn from this concise text are simple techniques and disciplines to allow you to enter the Court with confidence and focus.

Did the little girl at the centre of the most heavily reported missing-persons case in modern history ever go missing to begin with?

If Madeleine was never abducted, if she died on May 3rd, why was it reported as an abduction?

Despite the absence of a trial, what we have now is a fairly precise version of events from the McCanns themselves, a by-product of their relentless PR. We also know the original lead investigator Goncalo Amaral's counter-narrative, which is now a legally defensible matter of public record.

The questions that arise from these opposing narratives are dead simple: Which narrative is more credible? Which narrator is more credible? What was the motive behind all the publicity?

Neither Madeleine nor her abductor ultimately benefited from the ongoing media barrage, so who did?

True crime maestro, Nick van der Leek, plumbs quagmires of confusion and a thicket of thorny inconsistencies to probe what lies beneath the psychologies. What is the significance of doctors as suspects? Did it matter or mean anything that the McCanns and their cabal of friends in the Algarve were mostly doctors?

Peeling away the gossamer threads, over the course of just four days [April 29th - May 2nd], van der Leek intuits that very little was routine: not the weather, not where meals were eaten, not where or when they slept and not what they did as a family. But what were their routines when it came to other, murkier things, like sleeping patterns, cell phones and sedatives? Drawing intangibles out of the darkness, van der Leek sews the vexing loose ends from several conflicting stories into a definite - if not definitive - end-result.

The book demonstrates how to offer testimony on direct examination, how to cross-examine and impeach various types of witnesses, and how to use discovery in the examination of witnesses. The authors illustrate model examinations and offer citations to rules and cases that can be relied upon by an advocate preparing an examination on an important point. The Fifth Edition adds new material addressing the many authentication issues that can arise as digital evidence is presented at trial. The authors have drawn upon excellent work by others to present the new material so that it is clear and understandable.