Criminal Defense
Do the records actually support the charge?
Objective, resourceful medical record review and defense case support in matters involving injury, death, and complex medical or mental health issues.
My work may include expert reports, testimony, customized cross-examination questions for investigating officers, treating providers, or state experts, and unbiased support for attorneys seeking dismissal, charge reduction, or holistic sentencing outcomes that account for medical and mental health needs.
Whether the issue is whether the records support the charge, whether the injuries match the reported mechanism, or how to explain medications, diagnoses, treatment, and expected course of care, my goal is to give attorneys and their clients clear, practical medical insight. I help identify what is missing, what does not fit, and what may seem significant but is likely medically irrelevant — making complex medical records easier to understand and use.
In criminal matters especially, not everything belongs in writing. Many attorneys want a review and a verbal analysis first, then decide what — if anything — becomes a deliverable. I work as a non-testifying consulting expert with work product protection or as a testifying expert, whichever the case calls for.
Matters I consult on most
- Assault and battery; biomechanics of injury
- Strangulation and suffocation allegations
- Child physical abuse; pediatric trauma vs. accidental injury
- Elder abuse, neglect, and pressure injury staging
- Toxicology, BAC, and impairment vs. medical emergency (DUI/DWI)
- Homicide; gunshot and sharp force trauma
Value to the defense team
Where the medical theory can break down
Records vs. allegations
Mechanism of injury
Cross-examination support
Documentation written in the middle of an investigation
Hospital records created during a police investigation carry the pressures of the moment: history taken second-hand, mechanism recorded as reported rather than as assessed, copy-forward errors, and shorthand that reads far more definitively than the clinician intended. Knowing how that documentation is actually produced at the bedside is often the difference between a record that looks damning and a record that says much less than it appears to.
Cost control
Moving the case forward without over-spending
If I am not the best final expert to report or testify for a particular issue, my broad clinical background can still move the case most of the way forward while helping control costs. I can complete the initial review, organize the file, narrow the medical questions, and help locate an appropriate specialist when that would best serve the client. My familiarity with different types of experts, along with local professional connections, can help identify the right fit whenever additional expertise is needed.
Case Assessment
The time to dig into the medical records isn't the week before the deposition.
Bring me in early and the medical questions get answered while there is still time to use the answers. Email or call to schedule a case assessment — or just to talk through what you're looking at and make those records make sense.