What is "Expert Testimony"

[Farleyboy007]

My question involves small claims court in the state of: MD

The Defendant filed his intent to defend in my small claims case. his statement was basically: all my claims are BS, "Expert Testimony" will be provided. What does expert testimony mean?

My case is about water damage to my house, from when the defendant was rehabbing the townhouse adjoining mine. once he tore his building down, water began to pour down the inside of my walls. Unfortunately for me, the housing authority inspector who originally looked at the issue,(also whom i was planning to get a statement from/have as my witness) and found the defendant at fault apparently had no jurisdiction/expertise/whatever, and didn't follow up with anything. His boss also stated his inspector will not provide an affidavit saying what he told me when this happened, which was: Defendant has to repair the damage to my home, or go to court. I was thinking about subpoenaing(sp?) the inspector, but i'm wondering if that is a good idea. A) he clearly doesn't want to show up to court, he might just perjure himself and say he never said that, or just provide crap testimony. and B) if he really had no cause to say the defendant was at fault, will he get ripped a new one in court, and thus hurt my case?

i have some pretty damning (i think) pictures, and the timing of the damage fits, but that is about all i have to go on. Also the defendant made efforts to repair the damage (he just did a terrible job, hence me suing to get the money to pay someone else to fix) but i'm not sure if that is anything like admitting guilt. I'm concerned this "expert witness" will just spew a load of technical nonsense, and i wont know how to refute it.

[antrc170]

expert testimony is testimony provided by a person who is educated and a professional in a specific field. For example, somewho who graduates from Johns Hopkins with an MD, has served as a medical examiner for a number of years and dealt with trauma victims would be an expert in the area of forensic medicine.

In your situation, someone educated, with a professional degree or license and has been operating as an inspector, constractor, etc for a number of years without serious complaints from the state or public might be deemed an expert witness.

To do that the defendent will bring up the persons education, background, etc to show that the person knows what he/she is talking about. Then the defense will ask the judge to certify the person as an expert. It is up to the judge to do it or not if the judge feels that the testimony of this person on technical matters should carry more weight than a layman.

[cmre3456]

This really doesn't address your question, but if you can prove that they made an attempt to repair your property, you might get the court to agree that they admitted liability. Then if you have your own documentation such as pictures and witnesses that they did a lousy job on its face, you might win your case.

The rules of evidence in most small claims court are far looser than in a "real" court.