Policing expert testimony in a death investigation: Medical opinion as legal fact
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Description
Within coronial investigations, pathologists are called upon to given evidence as to cause of death. This evidence is given great weight by the coroners; after all, scientific ‘truth’ is widely deemed to be far more reliable than legal ‘opinion’. The purpose of this paper is to examine the ontological and epistemological status of that evidence, from the perspectives of both the pathologists and the coroners. As part of an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, interviews were conducted with seven pathologists and 10 coroners from within the Queensland coronial system. Contrary to expectations, and the work of philosophers of science, such as Feyerabend (1975), pathologists did not present their findings in terms of unequivocal facts or objective truths relating to causes of death. Rather, their evidence was largely presented as ‘educated opinion’ based upon ‘the weight of evidence’. It was actually the coroners who translated that opinion into ‘medical fact’ within the proceedings of their death investigations, arguably as a consequence of the administrative necessity to reach a clear-cut finding as to cause of death, and on the basis of their own understanding of the ontology of medical knowledge. These findings support Latour’s (2010) claim that law requires a fundamentally different epistemology to science, and that science is not entirely to blame for the extravagant truth-claims made on its behalf
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ID Code: | 93057 | ||||
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Item Type: | Chapter in Book, Report or Conference volume (Conference contribution) | ||||
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Measurements or Duration: | 8 pages | ||||
ISBN: | 978-0-9874678-6-7 | ||||
Pure ID: | 32809477 | ||||
Divisions: | Past > QUT Faculties & Divisions > Faculty of Education Past > Schools > School of Cultural & Professional Learning Past > QUT Faculties & Divisions > Faculty of Law Current > Schools > School of Justice Current > Research Centres > Crime, Justice & Social Democracy Research Centre |
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Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2015 Crime and Justice Research Centre, QUT | ||||
Copyright Statement: | This work is covered by copyright. Unless the document is being made available under a Creative Commons Licence, you must assume that re-use is limited to personal use and that permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses. If the document is available under a Creative Commons License (or other specified license) then refer to the Licence for details of permitted re-use. It is a condition of access that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. If you believe that this work infringes copyright please provide details by email to qut.copyright@qut.edu.au | ||||
Deposited On: | 19 Feb 2016 01:08 | ||||
Last Modified: | 27 Apr 2024 15:25 |
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