In the Land of Agog: An Allegory for the Expert Witness
1985; Wiley; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1520/jfs11809j
ISSN1556-4029
Autores Tópico(s)Law in Society and Culture
ResumoAbstract Taking its cue from Paul Bunyon's allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, and the various recastings of the Arthurian legend, this paper presents a not altogether mythical allegory on the foibles of some expert witnesses and the ineffective response of the judicial system to them. In its first part, the paper recounts the fictional plight of the King of Agog, mysteriously striken with a crippling illness, whose last recourse for recovery seems to lie in the magic of three wizards. Each of these wizards. Lord Willifred Panbred. Lord Manny Quarryful, and Lady Prunella Prudence, is fashioned after the model of some experts who have ministered as witnesses in the judicial system. Each wizard bears his or her own bag of tricks, none of which give the King any but temporary relief from his affliction. In a second part, the paper dispenses with fiction and engages in a detailed, factual, case-by-case analysis of the ways in which these wizards from a fictional past and their stock of wizardry are paradigms for the conduct of some expert witnesses today. Prescriptions for a cure more permanent than the hocus-pocus the wizards offer the King are stated.
Referência(s)