Level 300 students of the Department of Forensic Sciences of University of Cape Coast have demonstrated their competences in giving expert witness testimony in two cases from a mock crime scene.
The event took place in a moot court room at the Sam Jonah Law Library on the 28th of July, 2023.
The students, reading a course titled, "FSC 308A: Expert Witness Testimony," were armed with practical and technical experiences in giving opinions on evidence from cases they work on for either the defense or prosecution in court.
Students participating in a field study
The students prior to the court, processed evidence found on a mock crime scene and, with the state-of-the-art resources and equipment in their laboratory analysed the evidences retrieved.
The students grouped themselves into four with prosecution and defence counsels for the two case scenarios.
- A student-witness swearing with the Bible to give evidence-in-chief at the moot court
For the first scenario, the focus was on document analysis, while the second scenario, they were to conduct serology analysis on a murder case.
Each side was represented by an expert witness who presented the evidence in court and was subjected to cross-examination. The witnesses were able to adduce incontrovertible evidence in their areas of expertise to the courtroom as expert witnesses.
- An accused person at the Moot Court Room
In the murder case scenario, a seven-member jury was empanelled to be the triers of fact. Dr. Charlotte Kwakye-Nuako, a Senior Lecturer at the Department, acted as the presiding judge in both scenarios.
After the experience, she applauded the students and their aids for their efforts.
- Dr. Charlotte Kwakye-Nuako
The exercise was the third in the series and was meant to equip the future forensic scientists with courtroom procedures and techniques.
Mr Francis Tambo, and Mr. Isaac Kofi Badu, both lecturers at the Department of Forensic Sciences, supervised the crime scene investigation.
Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC