The Criminal Justice System: A Guide for Law Enforcement ... - NHTSA

Acknowledgments
While common in occurrence, the evidence needed to prove guilt in impaireddriving
cases is complex, often requiring expert testimony to assist the trier-of-fact in
determining what happened. As in any profession, those who work in it sometimes take
for granted the complex nature of our legal system and presume others understand it as
we do, which oftentimes is not the case. To fill that void, this publication provides an
overview of the criminal justice system for people who will likely encounter it through
their roles as expert witnesses.
This guide is the result of a collaborative effort on the part of the following:
Debra Whitcomb, Director of Grant Programs and Development, National District
Attorneys Association; Marcia Cunningham, Director, National District Attorneys
Association’s National Traffic Law Center; Joanne Michaels, Senior Attorney, National
District Attorneys Association’s National Traffic Law Center; L. R. “Bob” Jacob, of the
Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM), Jacksonville, Florida; and
George Dentes, former four-term District Attorney for Tompkins County, New York
(1989-2005). Sadly, Mr. Dentes died unexpectedly on October 31, 2006, just steps away
from his office at the New York Prosecutors Training Institute.
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