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To: traderrob6
-- How can you say that?
He's a 16 year police veteran and Detective. His JOB is forming an opinion on the veracity or lack thereof concerning suspects.
--

There is a bright line distinction in trial, between an expert and a fact witness. In this trial, all of the investigators and police are fact witnesses.

It would be hard for me to do justice to a decent explanation, but the fact that a cop has 20, 30 or 40 years of experience does not entitle him to tell the jury whether or not a witness is telling the truth. That's for the jury to decide.

Not to say that Serino isn't a good judge of truthfulness, he probably is very good at it. But "truthfulness" can also be determined by a jury, without resort to an expert - that's the whole point of trial/jury, to have the jury weigh the evidence.

258 posted on 07/02/2013 7:16:54 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Cboldt

“...does not entitle him to tell the jury whether or not a witness is telling the truth.”

He did NOT tell the jury whether Z was telling the truth.

He gave his OPINION on the veracity of Zimmermans statements. There’s a big difference.


317 posted on 07/02/2013 7:30:11 AM PDT by traderrob6
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