What do you think?
Rate this book
Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance
From the author of the critically-acclaimed true crime account, A Killer By Design (the inspiration behind Hulu's original docuseries, Mastermind), a groundbreaking look into the crucial role played by expert witnesses in the most high-profile criminal cases, based on Dr. Ann Burgess’ personal experiences within the criminal justice system.
Written through Burgess’ singular lens of compassion and lived experience, Expert Witness pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cases in the last thirty years—from Bill Cosby to the Menendez brothers to Larry Nassar—to reveal the deeply human stories behind the trials that have captivated a nation. The book explores the role of expert witnesses in high stakes court cases, offering first-hand accounts and never-before-seen interviews with attorneys, victims, and offenders.
Expert Witness places readers inside the mind of the nation’s most prominent courtroom expert, following Burgess as she takes on one seismic case after the next. Throughout the narrative, each case deepens the reader’s understanding of the art and science of expert testimony, taking readers from the women’s movement of the 1970s to the #MeToo movement of today—one of the largest social reckonings in recent history. At its core, Expert Witness is a story of empowerment. It’s a story of compassion and the ever-increasing need for individuals to stand up and speak truth to power or to popular opinion. And it's ultimately a story of how revolutionary one voice can be.
Written through Burgess’ singular lens of compassion and lived experience, Expert Witness pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cases in the last thirty years—from Bill Cosby to the Menendez brothers to Larry Nassar—to reveal the deeply human stories behind the trials that have captivated a nation. The book explores the role of expert witnesses in high stakes court cases, offering first-hand accounts and never-before-seen interviews with attorneys, victims, and offenders.
Expert Witness places readers inside the mind of the nation’s most prominent courtroom expert, following Burgess as she takes on one seismic case after the next. Throughout the narrative, each case deepens the reader’s understanding of the art and science of expert testimony, taking readers from the women’s movement of the 1970s to the #MeToo movement of today—one of the largest social reckonings in recent history. At its core, Expert Witness is a story of empowerment. It’s a story of compassion and the ever-increasing need for individuals to stand up and speak truth to power or to popular opinion. And it's ultimately a story of how revolutionary one voice can be.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published September 2, 2025
About the author
Ann Wolbert Burgess
43 books185 followersAnn Wolbert Burgess, D.N.Sc., APRN, FAAN, is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. She has received numerous honors including the Sigma Theta Tau International Audrey Hepburn Award, the American Nurses’ Association Hildegard Peplau Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Episteme Laureate Award. Her courtroom testimony has been described as “groundbreaking,” and she has been called a “nursing pathfinder.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 8, 2025
This was an interesting look into the author's work as a sexual assault trauma therapist and how she has used that expertise to act as an expert witness in cases large and small, famous and under-the-radar. She gives a brief overview of how expert witnesses came to be integral in the court system before going into her involvement in some well-known cases, like the Menendez brothers and Bill Cosby.
I wish there had been a little more to this book; I feel like I blinked and it was over. But the discussions in here were important and eye-opening.
I wish there had been a little more to this book; I feel like I blinked and it was over. But the discussions in here were important and eye-opening.
November 13, 2025
I was going to give this two stars and then she talked about using AI in parole decisions. She literally spent the whole book talking about how nuanced everything is in the criminal field and then she thinks AI can be neutral. No thank you.
September 10, 2025
5 stars
I never really thought about what it took to be an expert witness in the criminal justice system, besides being top in their chosen field, but reading this really brought to light the very delicate balancing acting it takes to be one. It was so engrossing and shocking at some of the things I learned. Expert Witness, is a nonfiction book that covers the history and development of what it is to be an expert witness in court proceedings. It includes very important historical cases that affected the use and rules on having an expert's testimony. Not only that but very well known cases today that the author worked on using her knowledge and experience. I found it all fascinating, especially getting these insider looks at these national news cases and I do mean inside, because it looks at the psychological and behavioral aspects of these cases from both victim and perpetrator perspective. I highly recommend this book especially if you're into History, true crime, and psychology. It is very riveting stuff.
I received an advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.
I never really thought about what it took to be an expert witness in the criminal justice system, besides being top in their chosen field, but reading this really brought to light the very delicate balancing acting it takes to be one. It was so engrossing and shocking at some of the things I learned. Expert Witness, is a nonfiction book that covers the history and development of what it is to be an expert witness in court proceedings. It includes very important historical cases that affected the use and rules on having an expert's testimony. Not only that but very well known cases today that the author worked on using her knowledge and experience. I found it all fascinating, especially getting these insider looks at these national news cases and I do mean inside, because it looks at the psychological and behavioral aspects of these cases from both victim and perpetrator perspective. I highly recommend this book especially if you're into History, true crime, and psychology. It is very riveting stuff.
I received an advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.
September 26, 2025
Expert Witness by Ann Wolbert Burgess offers a glimpse into the career of a pioneering forensic psychologist who helped shape criminal profiling. The book chronicles Burgess’s experiences working on high-profile cases, including her contributions to understanding criminal behavior and aiding legal proceedings. Through her perspective, readers learn about her involvement in cases like the Menendez Brothers and the Duke University lacrosse team, Bill Cosby, as well as her behind-the-scenes work in forensic psychology.
I enjoyed the book for its unique perspective on Burgess’s groundbreaking career, and certain cases, like the Menendez Brothers, the Duke lacrosse team, and Bill Cosby were gripping and held my attention with their intensity and complexity. However, the book often felt tedious, as much of it focused on the aftermath of investigations rather than the investigative process itself. As someone who enjoys the thrill of active casework and the details of investigations, I found the emphasis on post-investigation analysis and behind-the-scenes work less engaging. While informative, the narrative lacked the consistent excitement I was hoping for, making it a solid but not standout read.
Overall, Expert Witness is a decent read for those interested in forensic psychology, but it may not fully satisfy readers looking for in-depth, action-packed investigative stories. Three stars.
I received a DRC from Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley. This review is my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions
I enjoyed the book for its unique perspective on Burgess’s groundbreaking career, and certain cases, like the Menendez Brothers, the Duke lacrosse team, and Bill Cosby were gripping and held my attention with their intensity and complexity. However, the book often felt tedious, as much of it focused on the aftermath of investigations rather than the investigative process itself. As someone who enjoys the thrill of active casework and the details of investigations, I found the emphasis on post-investigation analysis and behind-the-scenes work less engaging. While informative, the narrative lacked the consistent excitement I was hoping for, making it a solid but not standout read.
Overall, Expert Witness is a decent read for those interested in forensic psychology, but it may not fully satisfy readers looking for in-depth, action-packed investigative stories. Three stars.
I received a DRC from Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley. This review is my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions
August 27, 2025
𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕞 𝕡𝕚𝕡𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕒𝕒𝕒𝕒𝕫𝕪, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 🙂↕️
If you were certain you’d be Hoch’s next new hire, this is a must read. Ann Burgess quite literally wrote the book on criminal profiling. & Now—w the help of Constantine—she’s ripped back the curtain even further.
I was v familiar w many of the cases discussed here (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘻 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘣𝘺, 𝘋𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦, 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺), yet Ann still managed to blow my mind w facts shared for the first time in these pages.
Admittedly, I picked this up more for the tea than for the edu on the role of Expert Witness—but Expert Witness is a position w 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 much much more power than we know. There’s exponentially more responsibility than I imagined, & without their insight countless people would be left in a legal limbo—a horrifying & confusing place to be as the victim of a crime. Even those falsely accused depend on EW testimony! There’s so much hinging on what these professionals say, so learning how similar to the Wild Wild West the role is/was/can be was eye opening to say the least.
If you have any interest in behavioral analysis & criminal profiling, psych in general, true crime, laws within the court system, feminism, the #MeToo movement specifically & all it represents or are just looking for nonfic so interesting you won’t wanna put it down—𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 😋
Thank you bunches to Grand Central Pub for the #gifted copy—your nonfic game lately 😮💨😮💨🫶🏻
If you were certain you’d be Hoch’s next new hire, this is a must read. Ann Burgess quite literally wrote the book on criminal profiling. & Now—w the help of Constantine—she’s ripped back the curtain even further.
I was v familiar w many of the cases discussed here (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘻 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘣𝘺, 𝘋𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦, 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺), yet Ann still managed to blow my mind w facts shared for the first time in these pages.
Admittedly, I picked this up more for the tea than for the edu on the role of Expert Witness—but Expert Witness is a position w 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 much much more power than we know. There’s exponentially more responsibility than I imagined, & without their insight countless people would be left in a legal limbo—a horrifying & confusing place to be as the victim of a crime. Even those falsely accused depend on EW testimony! There’s so much hinging on what these professionals say, so learning how similar to the Wild Wild West the role is/was/can be was eye opening to say the least.
If you have any interest in behavioral analysis & criminal profiling, psych in general, true crime, laws within the court system, feminism, the #MeToo movement specifically & all it represents or are just looking for nonfic so interesting you won’t wanna put it down—𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 😋
Thank you bunches to Grand Central Pub for the #gifted copy—your nonfic game lately 😮💨😮💨🫶🏻
May 19, 2026
It pains me to give this 2 stars. I respect her work so much, and I loved the book up until the epilogue.
The whole book emphasizes the complexity and nuanced nature of humans and how the difficulty of capturing that is a disservice to the courtroom. Then she ends the book by praising AI and even suggests using it for sentencing and parole decisions!!! WHAT??? So disappointing.
The whole book emphasizes the complexity and nuanced nature of humans and how the difficulty of capturing that is a disservice to the courtroom. Then she ends the book by praising AI and even suggests using it for sentencing and parole decisions!!! WHAT??? So disappointing.
March 8, 2026
I really, really wanted to like this book but it was pretty disappointing in multiple ways.
There was no real engagement with the concept of what it means to be an expert witness or any real good faith countering to the very legitimate criticisms of the concept of expert witness as a profession. There was a lot of talk about how being an expert witness is good and important to help the jury understand complex concepts, which I agree with, but she never really addressed the battle of the experts issue, nor did she ever give an example of a case where her analysis was not used by the party that hired her, which gave me the impression that she’s a bit of a hired gun.
For the most part this book is very surface level recaps of extremely high profile cases where Dr. Burgess was hired as an expert witness for one side or another. I will say, for a book that’s main thesis can be described as “facts are the absolute most important thing”, there were a shocking amount of factual errors in these recaps- wrong names, wrong dates, incorrectly attributing various other experts and attorneys to the prosecution or defense, etc. The writing was also incredibly repetitive, to the point that in one of the Bill Cosby chapters the same paragraph is repeated verbatim a couple pages apart.
The biggest thing for me though, and this is my observation, was how AI/ChatGPT sounding a lot of the writing was. A lot of “It’s not just A. It’s B.” and “No X. No Y. Just Z.” style writing, as well as other AI-isms like overuse of “quiet” as an adjective, describing any emotional scenario as “chaos”, starting sentences with “And, honestly”, shoe-horned in similes that barely make sense, and passages that read like lazy re-phrasings of other writers’ work that is widely available online (the passage in the first Menendez chapter, in particular, dealing with Jose’s personal and work history reads like it was ripped and slightly rearranged from Dominick Dunne’s “Nightmare on Elm Drive” article, which is still one of the first things that comes up when you google the Menendez brothers. There was no citation to Dunne). I was going to give this the benefit of the doubt until the epilogue, where she hypes up AI as a tool that should be used in trials and sentencing (no, it should not be) and talks about how she currently uses it all the time in her work. Yikes.
I almost wish I hadn’t read this book because I really do admire Dr. Burgess and her work, but this and even A Killer By Design were so sloppily written and refused so blatantly to engage in good faith with legitimate criticisms of profiling/expert witnessing as a career that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
There was no real engagement with the concept of what it means to be an expert witness or any real good faith countering to the very legitimate criticisms of the concept of expert witness as a profession. There was a lot of talk about how being an expert witness is good and important to help the jury understand complex concepts, which I agree with, but she never really addressed the battle of the experts issue, nor did she ever give an example of a case where her analysis was not used by the party that hired her, which gave me the impression that she’s a bit of a hired gun.
For the most part this book is very surface level recaps of extremely high profile cases where Dr. Burgess was hired as an expert witness for one side or another. I will say, for a book that’s main thesis can be described as “facts are the absolute most important thing”, there were a shocking amount of factual errors in these recaps- wrong names, wrong dates, incorrectly attributing various other experts and attorneys to the prosecution or defense, etc. The writing was also incredibly repetitive, to the point that in one of the Bill Cosby chapters the same paragraph is repeated verbatim a couple pages apart.
The biggest thing for me though, and this is my observation, was how AI/ChatGPT sounding a lot of the writing was. A lot of “It’s not just A. It’s B.” and “No X. No Y. Just Z.” style writing, as well as other AI-isms like overuse of “quiet” as an adjective, describing any emotional scenario as “chaos”, starting sentences with “And, honestly”, shoe-horned in similes that barely make sense, and passages that read like lazy re-phrasings of other writers’ work that is widely available online (the passage in the first Menendez chapter, in particular, dealing with Jose’s personal and work history reads like it was ripped and slightly rearranged from Dominick Dunne’s “Nightmare on Elm Drive” article, which is still one of the first things that comes up when you google the Menendez brothers. There was no citation to Dunne). I was going to give this the benefit of the doubt until the epilogue, where she hypes up AI as a tool that should be used in trials and sentencing (no, it should not be) and talks about how she currently uses it all the time in her work. Yikes.
I almost wish I hadn’t read this book because I really do admire Dr. Burgess and her work, but this and even A Killer By Design were so sloppily written and refused so blatantly to engage in good faith with legitimate criticisms of profiling/expert witnessing as a career that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
July 1, 2025
Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance tells of Dr. Ann Burgess’s experiences as an expert witness on some of the biggest cases in recent years, including those of the Menedez brothers, the Duke Lacrosse team, Bill Cosby and more. Dr. Burgess is a forensic and psychiatric nurse, a professor at Boston College, and she has worked with the FBI.
The introduction sets the stage for her work by walking us through the history of the use of expert witnesses. I found this to be informative and helpful, but a little dry. The book got to be very interesting once she started telling her stories.
I admired her openness when telling of the challenges she’s faced over the course of her career. For example, the environment in the 1970’s was very different than it is today and it was more difficult having her opinions be truly considered. In more recent years where she’s sometimes struggled to balance empathy with impartiality.
Not surprisingly, my favorite chapters were those which dealt with the highest profile cases. At those times when I wished she talked about the cases through their resolutions, I had to remind myself the book was about the role of the expert witness, not a recount of the entire case.
Here’s my to-do list now that I’ve finished this enjoyable book:
• Watch the Mastermind docuseries on Hulu.
• Watch ESPN’s 30 on 30 episode about the Duke Lacrosse scandal.
• Determine whether the Menedez-related season of Monsters on Netflix had any mention of Dr. Burgess.
Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to read Expert Witness. The above opinions are my own.
The introduction sets the stage for her work by walking us through the history of the use of expert witnesses. I found this to be informative and helpful, but a little dry. The book got to be very interesting once she started telling her stories.
I admired her openness when telling of the challenges she’s faced over the course of her career. For example, the environment in the 1970’s was very different than it is today and it was more difficult having her opinions be truly considered. In more recent years where she’s sometimes struggled to balance empathy with impartiality.
Not surprisingly, my favorite chapters were those which dealt with the highest profile cases. At those times when I wished she talked about the cases through their resolutions, I had to remind myself the book was about the role of the expert witness, not a recount of the entire case.
Here’s my to-do list now that I’ve finished this enjoyable book:
• Watch the Mastermind docuseries on Hulu.
• Watch ESPN’s 30 on 30 episode about the Duke Lacrosse scandal.
• Determine whether the Menedez-related season of Monsters on Netflix had any mention of Dr. Burgess.
Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to read Expert Witness. The above opinions are my own.
June 19, 2026
3/5 -> 2/5
Taking 1 star off for bizarre AI support.
When dealing with people, and people's lives in/out of confinement, we need to have educated people making the decisions, not AI. I'm not convinced LLMs are able to stop/flag blatant warning signs, never mind subtle ones. Tumbler Ridge, anyone? The numerous lawsuits of wrongful death?? Is she programming it better? I can only hope.
This book wasn't what I was expecting but it was interesting! Burgess has a long history of working with sexual trauma and this book features some of the cases she's worked on. I thought this was just a look at some cases that had pivotal expert witness testimony, but it's her personal experience. She worked on the cases of the Menendez brothers, Duke University lacrosse team, Bill Cosby, and Larry Nassar among others. The explanations and overviews she gave were interesting but something was missing for me.
I think the most interesting part of this is her background. She's clearly badass, having gained enough recognition to help create profiles for the BSU and steady work with/at Quantico. Her training in forensic nursing is hugely groundbreaking for the time and she touches on the old hat thinking in the Menendez case. Overall, I liked the book but wasn't sold on the new tech.
I found this at my local library. If it sounds interesting to you then check it out from a library near you for free! I hope you enjoy it.
Taking 1 star off for bizarre AI support.
When dealing with people, and people's lives in/out of confinement, we need to have educated people making the decisions, not AI. I'm not convinced LLMs are able to stop/flag blatant warning signs, never mind subtle ones. Tumbler Ridge, anyone? The numerous lawsuits of wrongful death?? Is she programming it better? I can only hope.
This book wasn't what I was expecting but it was interesting! Burgess has a long history of working with sexual trauma and this book features some of the cases she's worked on. I thought this was just a look at some cases that had pivotal expert witness testimony, but it's her personal experience. She worked on the cases of the Menendez brothers, Duke University lacrosse team, Bill Cosby, and Larry Nassar among others. The explanations and overviews she gave were interesting but something was missing for me.
I think the most interesting part of this is her background. She's clearly badass, having gained enough recognition to help create profiles for the BSU and steady work with/at Quantico. Her training in forensic nursing is hugely groundbreaking for the time and she touches on the old hat thinking in the Menendez case. Overall, I liked the book but wasn't sold on the new tech.
I found this at my local library. If it sounds interesting to you then check it out from a library near you for free! I hope you enjoy it.
July 23, 2025
A peak into the work of expert witnesses, or at least one of them.
I was honestly left a bit underwhelmed. I was hoping for more - more history, more insight into contemporary issues (ex. Blood spatter expert(s) that may or may not be credible, or if blood spatter analysis can even be considered "generally accepted.") - and less sensationalizing. Especially given the relatively short length with the true crime cases chosen, it felt too surface level.
**I received my copy from Netgalley.
I was honestly left a bit underwhelmed. I was hoping for more - more history, more insight into contemporary issues (ex. Blood spatter expert(s) that may or may not be credible, or if blood spatter analysis can even be considered "generally accepted.") - and less sensationalizing. Especially given the relatively short length with the true crime cases chosen, it felt too surface level.
**I received my copy from Netgalley.
May 6, 2026
Ending it with a horny ode to AI/LLMs is so fucking boring.
Generally, there was also not a lot of interesting or new information. What felt like half the book was about the Menendez case, and the rest were already known facts about Bill Cosby, a sports team and the perverted gymnastics doctor whose name I forget and don't feel like looking up.
Generally, there was also not a lot of interesting or new information. What felt like half the book was about the Menendez case, and the rest were already known facts about Bill Cosby, a sports team and the perverted gymnastics doctor whose name I forget and don't feel like looking up.
Read
June 1, 20263.5
October 17, 2025
Really interesting. Actually gave me a different perspective on large cases like the Menendez brothers. She does a good job describing victims responses to trauma. Also interesting how media has played a large role in the portrayal of certain cases
August 8, 2025
Dr. Burgess is a hero of mine for her— often overlooked & under-mentioned— work in the field of criminology, victimology, & profiling, making this one of the top books on my TBR! I appreciated Burgess’ ability to balance empathy & facts while discussing her role in various high profile cases without sensationalizing them. It is clear throughout this book that she is passionate, not just about her work but also about the role she plays as an expert witness. I think this book is also good at giving insight & information for those with some knowledge in the field & for the layperson— it wasn’t overly “heady” nor simplistic. I found this book to be engaging & worked my way through it at a decent clip.
The book ends with some powerful statements about the role of an expert witness that I felt were very strong! However, my one qualm came in this same epilogue. As other reviews mention, Dr. Burgess advocates strongly for the future of AI in policing, threat & risk assessment, & other areas within her field. I was fairly surprised by this &, honestly, disappointed. I’m sure there are people who will agree with her perspective, & of course Dr. Burgess didn’t write this for me or to please everyone. But I felt it was important to include this because it did dampen my enthusiasm for this book a bit. With the resources AI consumes, it’s questionable validity in the form of bias among other issues, & its impact on various skills when over-relied upon, I think this is a concerning place to be putting our faith, especially as folks with a dedication to the truth. Overall, 4/5 🌟
The book ends with some powerful statements about the role of an expert witness that I felt were very strong! However, my one qualm came in this same epilogue. As other reviews mention, Dr. Burgess advocates strongly for the future of AI in policing, threat & risk assessment, & other areas within her field. I was fairly surprised by this &, honestly, disappointed. I’m sure there are people who will agree with her perspective, & of course Dr. Burgess didn’t write this for me or to please everyone. But I felt it was important to include this because it did dampen my enthusiasm for this book a bit. With the resources AI consumes, it’s questionable validity in the form of bias among other issues, & its impact on various skills when over-relied upon, I think this is a concerning place to be putting our faith, especially as folks with a dedication to the truth. Overall, 4/5 🌟
January 10, 2026
It's unfortunate that I didn't like this book. I think it's an important topic, how expert witnesses impact the justice system. The spin on expert witnesses was just too positive. Except for the examples of one competing expert witness who appeared to be phoning it in for the defense and a pedestrian, Wolbert Burgess barely touches how expert witnesses have lead to false convictions using "a degree of scientific certainty". It felt more in the vein of "true crime" with a scientific leaning than a honest examination of the legal system. The epilogue ruined any positive feeling I have about the book when Wolbert Burgess spends multiple pages gushes about the use of AI in the future of the legal system and expert witnessing.
May 17, 2026
Expert Witness pulls back the curtain on some of the biggest cases that Ann Burgess participated in to reveal the truth behind the trials and the methods used as an expert witness. These were high profile cases that were heavily covered by the media, like the Menendez Brothers, the Duke University Lacrosse team, and Bill Cosby.
After reading Burgess’ previous book, A Killer by Design, I was eager to jump into this one and learn more about expert witnesses and her work. This was an interesting look at what an expert witness who profiles criminals does for a trial and how they handle various types of cases. While this is informative, there are sections that felt like it was more of an overview of the process, which is fine, but I personally was looking for a little more detail on how certain things were handled.
While I did enjoy this, it also felt like it was a bit repetitive from AKBD because some of the cases were the same, like the Menendez brothers and the Co-Ed Killer (Edmund Kemper). While in this one she went into a little more detail about being an expert witness and trial side of these cases, it still was a lot of repeat information, which isn’t a bad thing for those who haven’t read the previous book, but for me, it was. But also, I know these were huge cases for her so it kind of makes sense to reuse them, I just was expecting different cases, and maybe not so high profile ones.
One aspect of this that did turn me off a bit, was her belief that the use of AI in trials is a positive thing. AI has been proven to be biased and racist, and is actively harming people's chance at a fair trial right now, especially since there are no current regulations about its use in trials. This is something that she doesn’t discuss either, which is a huge disappointment for a woman whose whole argument was to uncover the truth and bring a fair trial to both parties. She does say she can see the importance of it when it comes to analyzing the patterns in large data sets, which is honesty one positive way to use AI and is how a lot of researchers use it, but because she doesn’t address any of the ethical or environmental issues with AI, her argument just ended up disappointing.
Overall, this book was a bit of a hit and miss for me. I enjoyed learning about how an expert witness works and how she helps with cases as an expert witness. But I didn’t really enjoy the repetitiveness of cases and her push to use AI in trials.
TW: sexual assault and rape; drugging; kidnapping; violence; murder; mental illness;
After reading Burgess’ previous book, A Killer by Design, I was eager to jump into this one and learn more about expert witnesses and her work. This was an interesting look at what an expert witness who profiles criminals does for a trial and how they handle various types of cases. While this is informative, there are sections that felt like it was more of an overview of the process, which is fine, but I personally was looking for a little more detail on how certain things were handled.
While I did enjoy this, it also felt like it was a bit repetitive from AKBD because some of the cases were the same, like the Menendez brothers and the Co-Ed Killer (Edmund Kemper). While in this one she went into a little more detail about being an expert witness and trial side of these cases, it still was a lot of repeat information, which isn’t a bad thing for those who haven’t read the previous book, but for me, it was. But also, I know these were huge cases for her so it kind of makes sense to reuse them, I just was expecting different cases, and maybe not so high profile ones.
One aspect of this that did turn me off a bit, was her belief that the use of AI in trials is a positive thing. AI has been proven to be biased and racist, and is actively harming people's chance at a fair trial right now, especially since there are no current regulations about its use in trials. This is something that she doesn’t discuss either, which is a huge disappointment for a woman whose whole argument was to uncover the truth and bring a fair trial to both parties. She does say she can see the importance of it when it comes to analyzing the patterns in large data sets, which is honesty one positive way to use AI and is how a lot of researchers use it, but because she doesn’t address any of the ethical or environmental issues with AI, her argument just ended up disappointing.
Overall, this book was a bit of a hit and miss for me. I enjoyed learning about how an expert witness works and how she helps with cases as an expert witness. But I didn’t really enjoy the repetitiveness of cases and her push to use AI in trials.
TW: sexual assault and rape; drugging; kidnapping; violence; murder; mental illness;
May 16, 2026
When I read a 250 page non-fiction book, I expect to learn something. This book was dull, boring, and at times, pretentious. I assume the person who wrote the book is Steven Matthew Constantine, who likely functioned as a ghost rider, but that Anne Wolbert Burgess’s name is on it because it’s her memoir. The only reason I finished reading this book was because I read it for the Morbidly Curious Book Club. If not for that, I would’ve DNF’ed it about 50 pages in.
September 10, 2025
Rating: 3.5
Ann Burgess is back with another account of her work in well-known cases. As someone who testifies at times as an expert witness, I was hoping for more of her experience as an expert witness while testifying. In a trial this typically occurs following qualifying questions to show one is an expert in a given field. She did a good job of explaining the rules of evidence and the cases that have changed those rules over time. What she doesn't discuss much is her actual testimony experience as an expert witness. Most of the cases she discusses in this book are ones she consulted on but didn't actually testify to. I found that extremely misleading given the synopsis and title of the book. I'd be interested to hear about cases she actually testified in. While I don't deny that she is an expert in her field, the title is misleading because only one or two of the cases she discusses are ones she actually gave testimony to as an expert witness. I still enjoyed reading her insight into these cases, but I don't know if it really added anything that isn't readily available for prior consumption.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.
Ann Burgess is back with another account of her work in well-known cases. As someone who testifies at times as an expert witness, I was hoping for more of her experience as an expert witness while testifying. In a trial this typically occurs following qualifying questions to show one is an expert in a given field. She did a good job of explaining the rules of evidence and the cases that have changed those rules over time. What she doesn't discuss much is her actual testimony experience as an expert witness. Most of the cases she discusses in this book are ones she consulted on but didn't actually testify to. I found that extremely misleading given the synopsis and title of the book. I'd be interested to hear about cases she actually testified in. While I don't deny that she is an expert in her field, the title is misleading because only one or two of the cases she discusses are ones she actually gave testimony to as an expert witness. I still enjoyed reading her insight into these cases, but I don't know if it really added anything that isn't readily available for prior consumption.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.
May 14, 2026
The best part about this book is not the subject material, but how thought provoking it is. I know I came in with my own assumptions and biases and those were pointed out by the expert witness, highlighting how important these people are. I love a book that goes beyond teaching about something but also provokes a new way of thinking.
September 30, 2026
An interesting account of the work of an expert witness that then veers into some strange AI stuff at the end.
August 4, 2025
I have a feeling I'm the only person in my social circles that has a favorite criminal investigator. Although, I suppose, if true crime fans listen to podcasts or read non-fiction, they may choose an investigator-turned-celebrity like Paul Holes. For me, is a pinnacle of the field. She continues to rock the world of justice at age 88 and also remains at the top of my list for as a pioneer, public speaker, feminist, data researcher, and author. EXPERT WITNESS is her second book with co-author Steven Matthew Costantine. The first was A Killer by Design: Murders, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind.
Pros:
EXPERT WITNESS is exceptionally well-organized and easy to read despite the severity of the subject matter. It includes an introduction, ten chapters, and an epilogue. The introduction and epilogue are, honestly, chapters in their own right. They aren't exactly short and each presents a topic that Burgess and Constantine explore with headline examples. The chapters take on a handful of specific criminal and civil cases where Burgess took on the role of an expert witness. Not all of them required her to take the witness stand, though she was always prepared for it.
The introduction gives a history lesson of how the American court system created expert witnesses and laid out the credentials required. American judicial history, of course, spurred from the English (without those wigs). Needless to say, 18th century to present day scientists called to the witness stand can and do have biases, even though they should not. For a basic understanding of the landmark cases, Frye v. United States (1923) and Daubert v. Merrell Dow (1993) and the Federal Rules of Evidence, readers will appreciate the beginning of the book.
The first chapter is an example of what Burgess' research was like for a great deal of her career. She took on Jane's case in the early 1970s. Jane was the victim of a home invasion and sexual assault by three men. What's crucially addressed in this chapter and others is that cases of rape (which legally may be divided into other labels) are so rarely brought to trial [1]. The cases Burgess and Constantine chose to include in EXPERT WITNESS illustrates how badly victims are treated by law enforcement, lawyers, judges, juries, the press, and the public. What's impressive is that by chapter ten, some of these heinous behaviors are changing as the growth and change occur in society. For Burgess to bear witness to these changes within one lifetime is remarkable.
Chapters 2-4 are about the work Burgess did on the defense for Erik Menendez, one of the two infamous Mendendez brothers who murdered their parents. People in Burgess' sphere were shocked that she was going to defend a male killer given her historic path of helping female victims of violence by men. She was only allowed to work on one of the brothers' cases. This look at her approach, what happened in court, and then what couldn't happen during the second trial show how frustrating the judicial process is.
The Con-Man. It's a character who has been romanticized throughout time in stories. Burgess calls them out for what they are: liars and manipulators out for their own gain. Chapter 5 is an important highlight in Burgess' career. She categorized Charlie Scott as a confidence-style rapist. The reason this case is well-chosen for a book about expert scientific witnesses is that psychology and psychiatry can be disparaged in discussions about science. There are valid reason which aren't for a book review. Burgess blossomed into the pioneering advocate for victims of violence because of her years as a psychiatriatic nurse who interviewed and treated those victims.
What is a confidence-style rapist? These are offenders that will manufacture relationships with their targets. As a friend or acquaintance, this type of offender gaslights their victims into questioning whether the assaults were consensual sex. Casting that doubt is all it takes for uncertainty to take hold. Victims blame themselves.
Erik Menendez wasn't the only case where Burgess' expertise was sought out to defend a man. Burgess' feminism has always revolved around helping victims regardless of demographic. She carved the methods to analyze and find patterns of (at the time, all male) serial violent criminals.
Chapter 6 might be a difficult case for some readers to appreciate (as I feel about the epilogue). The Duke University case of lacrosse players falsely accused of beating and raping a female dancer they hired for entertainment was one of the most polarizing of examples of collegiate elites versus someone of a less glamorous status. Burgess agreed to help on the defense of Reade Seligmann, at the time a 19-year-old student and one of the three accused athletes. The reasons become crystal clear in this chapter why Burgess was willing to take on the case. She and Constantine clearly present the evidence and the unreliable narrative of the accuser.
Before going into what I felt were the best chapters in EXPERT WITNESS, there's chapter 9, "Kemper Revisited." This chapter is unlike any of the others. Kemper has been in prison for a long time. He has never denied his crimes although he sometimes lies. He's also famous for being the first serial killer the FBI decided to use in order to invent the entire field of profiling. This chapter shows Burgess' point of view when she was contacted by Gregory Horoupian in 2018. There's a lot of inaccurate information about Kemper and his crimes which is why Horoupian went to Burgess. He wanted to go back to the primary sources including Burgess and Kemper to get the stories right. None of the graphic details of those crimes are included. This unique chapter is truthful look behind the scenes yet away from the filthy trenches of a serial killer's mind (for that read the other book by Burgess and Constantine).
The heaviest hitters in EXPERT WITNESS are chapters 7, 8, and 10. These show Burgess' involvement with one victim of Bill Cosby and one victim of Larry Nassar. The two cases are even larger in impact, spectacle, and sensationlism than the Menendez case.
Andrea Constand suffered from delayed onset posttraumatic stress disorder as determined by Burgess. This was necessary to show that Constand was, in fact, effected to this day by Cosby's assault. Burgess administered a psychiatric examination, came to understand Constand's mental state, and saw what elements of the present day are clouded by the trauma. Cosby was bold enough to try it again when Constand went to his house a second time with the plan to confront him.
Details like Constand's loose-fitting, inconspicuous wardrobe choices of 2016 show how Constantine plucked signs of depression from Burgess' input. This survivor resigned from her job and moved back in with her parents. She lost weight, another sign. Perhaps the saddest for her was when she lost her interest in sports. The whole reason she went to see Cosby was because she sought his mentoring to get a job in sports journalism. The shame and embarrassment are palpable in each paragraph. Cosby's grotesque actions are spelled out in detail. It's Constand's play-by-play descriptions including her assailant's flippant side of their conversations that will make any former Cosby fan feel like they've been punched in the gut.
Larry Nassar, convicted sex offender, has had over 500 known victims, according to chapter 10, "Victim Impact Statements." When Burgess became involved in the case, there were 150 victims who had come forward. This chapter's title clearly illustrates one key part of a modern case. The prosecution brought Burgess on board for the exam and analysis of the victim called M. in EXPERT WITNESS. Burgess set out to show M. that, in this tsunami of survivors, she was going to be more than a data point. The goal was for M. to feel seen, heard, and acknowledged by an impartial person. Like the Cosby chapters, chapter 10 includes the details of what M. went through at the hands of Nassar, and subsequently, her personal aftermath.
Cons:
The epilogue is more than a mere summation of Burgess' thoughts on the role of the expert witness in today's American judicial system. Burgess jumps into the deep end in defense of artificial intelligence. Knowing that AI is not only responsible for consuming natural resources beyond measure, and that AI is not a fact-checked source [2], makes any defense of LLMs unbearable.
I will point out that Burgess, unlike people stealing art, speaks about her excitement for a tool where investigators can feed their written reports and have those analyzed to find patterns and allow humans opportunities to use their time more productively. Personally, I don't think that will happen, but I'm not an expert. Burgess believes AI will produce indisputable facts without bias.
People better versed than I could ever be on AI have worked through the various systems and come across its failures. These LLMs have been proven to exhibit bias in favor of white, heteronormative, conservative-thinking males. It's a running joke how quickly they turn against humanity's best interests.
Summary:
EXPERT WITNESS is a quick way to get an authentic look into the world of being a scientific expert and advocate for victims of violent crimes. From the 1970s to present day, Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess has had a fascinating perspective about the aftermath of such crimes which she graciously shares with the world. Steven M. Constantine co-authors Burgess' decades of experience in a digestable format with well-organized chapters. The stories include transcripted conversations and court records while still adding the flourishing touches of what Burgess was thinking, the setting, and what she gleaned from those involved in each case.
Burgess' opinion of AI is hopeful and clearly comes from a place of passion in crime solving and proving. This is a divisive topic. The viewpoint that AI will solve, rather than cause, problems is something that has yet to become a proven fact. The naciency of the technology has a long way to go before law enforcement—no less civilians—should rely on it for unbiased and factual output.
Being analytical does not mean without empathy, compassion, and concern. Burgess bears the weight of the burdens people entrust to her to see that justice is done.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Notes:
Only 2-5% of sexual assault caes make it to trial.
Articles on AI:
Krishnamohan, A. (2025) Why ai fails: The untold truths behind 2025’s biggest Tech letdowns, Techfunnel. Available at: https://www.techfunnel.com/fintech/ft... (Accessed: 04 August 2025).
Wu, D. (2025) Lawyers using AI keep citing fake cases in court. judges aren’t happy., The Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation... (Accessed: 04 August 2025).
"Courts across the country are facing a deluge of filings from attorneys and litigants that back their arguments with nonexistent research hallucinated by generative artificial intelligence, prompting judges to fight back with fines and reprimands.
The problem reflects well-known issues with AI tools, which are prone to fabricate facts, or in these cases, citations. Soon after AI tools such as ChatGPT began to circulate, attorneys made headlines for submitting error-ridden memos after failing to check AI-assisted work."
Pros:
EXPERT WITNESS is exceptionally well-organized and easy to read despite the severity of the subject matter. It includes an introduction, ten chapters, and an epilogue. The introduction and epilogue are, honestly, chapters in their own right. They aren't exactly short and each presents a topic that Burgess and Constantine explore with headline examples. The chapters take on a handful of specific criminal and civil cases where Burgess took on the role of an expert witness. Not all of them required her to take the witness stand, though she was always prepared for it.
The introduction gives a history lesson of how the American court system created expert witnesses and laid out the credentials required. American judicial history, of course, spurred from the English (without those wigs). Needless to say, 18th century to present day scientists called to the witness stand can and do have biases, even though they should not. For a basic understanding of the landmark cases, Frye v. United States (1923) and Daubert v. Merrell Dow (1993) and the Federal Rules of Evidence, readers will appreciate the beginning of the book.
The first chapter is an example of what Burgess' research was like for a great deal of her career. She took on Jane's case in the early 1970s. Jane was the victim of a home invasion and sexual assault by three men. What's crucially addressed in this chapter and others is that cases of rape (which legally may be divided into other labels) are so rarely brought to trial [1]. The cases Burgess and Constantine chose to include in EXPERT WITNESS illustrates how badly victims are treated by law enforcement, lawyers, judges, juries, the press, and the public. What's impressive is that by chapter ten, some of these heinous behaviors are changing as the growth and change occur in society. For Burgess to bear witness to these changes within one lifetime is remarkable.
Chapters 2-4 are about the work Burgess did on the defense for Erik Menendez, one of the two infamous Mendendez brothers who murdered their parents. People in Burgess' sphere were shocked that she was going to defend a male killer given her historic path of helping female victims of violence by men. She was only allowed to work on one of the brothers' cases. This look at her approach, what happened in court, and then what couldn't happen during the second trial show how frustrating the judicial process is.
The Con-Man. It's a character who has been romanticized throughout time in stories. Burgess calls them out for what they are: liars and manipulators out for their own gain. Chapter 5 is an important highlight in Burgess' career. She categorized Charlie Scott as a confidence-style rapist. The reason this case is well-chosen for a book about expert scientific witnesses is that psychology and psychiatry can be disparaged in discussions about science. There are valid reason which aren't for a book review. Burgess blossomed into the pioneering advocate for victims of violence because of her years as a psychiatriatic nurse who interviewed and treated those victims.
What is a confidence-style rapist? These are offenders that will manufacture relationships with their targets. As a friend or acquaintance, this type of offender gaslights their victims into questioning whether the assaults were consensual sex. Casting that doubt is all it takes for uncertainty to take hold. Victims blame themselves.
Erik Menendez wasn't the only case where Burgess' expertise was sought out to defend a man. Burgess' feminism has always revolved around helping victims regardless of demographic. She carved the methods to analyze and find patterns of (at the time, all male) serial violent criminals.
Chapter 6 might be a difficult case for some readers to appreciate (as I feel about the epilogue). The Duke University case of lacrosse players falsely accused of beating and raping a female dancer they hired for entertainment was one of the most polarizing of examples of collegiate elites versus someone of a less glamorous status. Burgess agreed to help on the defense of Reade Seligmann, at the time a 19-year-old student and one of the three accused athletes. The reasons become crystal clear in this chapter why Burgess was willing to take on the case. She and Constantine clearly present the evidence and the unreliable narrative of the accuser.
Before going into what I felt were the best chapters in EXPERT WITNESS, there's chapter 9, "Kemper Revisited." This chapter is unlike any of the others. Kemper has been in prison for a long time. He has never denied his crimes although he sometimes lies. He's also famous for being the first serial killer the FBI decided to use in order to invent the entire field of profiling. This chapter shows Burgess' point of view when she was contacted by Gregory Horoupian in 2018. There's a lot of inaccurate information about Kemper and his crimes which is why Horoupian went to Burgess. He wanted to go back to the primary sources including Burgess and Kemper to get the stories right. None of the graphic details of those crimes are included. This unique chapter is truthful look behind the scenes yet away from the filthy trenches of a serial killer's mind (for that read the other book by Burgess and Constantine).
The heaviest hitters in EXPERT WITNESS are chapters 7, 8, and 10. These show Burgess' involvement with one victim of Bill Cosby and one victim of Larry Nassar. The two cases are even larger in impact, spectacle, and sensationlism than the Menendez case.
Andrea Constand suffered from delayed onset posttraumatic stress disorder as determined by Burgess. This was necessary to show that Constand was, in fact, effected to this day by Cosby's assault. Burgess administered a psychiatric examination, came to understand Constand's mental state, and saw what elements of the present day are clouded by the trauma. Cosby was bold enough to try it again when Constand went to his house a second time with the plan to confront him.
Details like Constand's loose-fitting, inconspicuous wardrobe choices of 2016 show how Constantine plucked signs of depression from Burgess' input. This survivor resigned from her job and moved back in with her parents. She lost weight, another sign. Perhaps the saddest for her was when she lost her interest in sports. The whole reason she went to see Cosby was because she sought his mentoring to get a job in sports journalism. The shame and embarrassment are palpable in each paragraph. Cosby's grotesque actions are spelled out in detail. It's Constand's play-by-play descriptions including her assailant's flippant side of their conversations that will make any former Cosby fan feel like they've been punched in the gut.
Larry Nassar, convicted sex offender, has had over 500 known victims, according to chapter 10, "Victim Impact Statements." When Burgess became involved in the case, there were 150 victims who had come forward. This chapter's title clearly illustrates one key part of a modern case. The prosecution brought Burgess on board for the exam and analysis of the victim called M. in EXPERT WITNESS. Burgess set out to show M. that, in this tsunami of survivors, she was going to be more than a data point. The goal was for M. to feel seen, heard, and acknowledged by an impartial person. Like the Cosby chapters, chapter 10 includes the details of what M. went through at the hands of Nassar, and subsequently, her personal aftermath.
Cons:
The epilogue is more than a mere summation of Burgess' thoughts on the role of the expert witness in today's American judicial system. Burgess jumps into the deep end in defense of artificial intelligence. Knowing that AI is not only responsible for consuming natural resources beyond measure, and that AI is not a fact-checked source [2], makes any defense of LLMs unbearable.
I will point out that Burgess, unlike people stealing art, speaks about her excitement for a tool where investigators can feed their written reports and have those analyzed to find patterns and allow humans opportunities to use their time more productively. Personally, I don't think that will happen, but I'm not an expert. Burgess believes AI will produce indisputable facts without bias.
People better versed than I could ever be on AI have worked through the various systems and come across its failures. These LLMs have been proven to exhibit bias in favor of white, heteronormative, conservative-thinking males. It's a running joke how quickly they turn against humanity's best interests.
Summary:
EXPERT WITNESS is a quick way to get an authentic look into the world of being a scientific expert and advocate for victims of violent crimes. From the 1970s to present day, Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess has had a fascinating perspective about the aftermath of such crimes which she graciously shares with the world. Steven M. Constantine co-authors Burgess' decades of experience in a digestable format with well-organized chapters. The stories include transcripted conversations and court records while still adding the flourishing touches of what Burgess was thinking, the setting, and what she gleaned from those involved in each case.
Burgess' opinion of AI is hopeful and clearly comes from a place of passion in crime solving and proving. This is a divisive topic. The viewpoint that AI will solve, rather than cause, problems is something that has yet to become a proven fact. The naciency of the technology has a long way to go before law enforcement—no less civilians—should rely on it for unbiased and factual output.
Being analytical does not mean without empathy, compassion, and concern. Burgess bears the weight of the burdens people entrust to her to see that justice is done.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Notes:
Only 2-5% of sexual assault caes make it to trial.
Articles on AI:
Krishnamohan, A. (2025) Why ai fails: The untold truths behind 2025’s biggest Tech letdowns, Techfunnel. Available at: https://www.techfunnel.com/fintech/ft... (Accessed: 04 August 2025).
Wu, D. (2025) Lawyers using AI keep citing fake cases in court. judges aren’t happy., The Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation... (Accessed: 04 August 2025).
"Courts across the country are facing a deluge of filings from attorneys and litigants that back their arguments with nonexistent research hallucinated by generative artificial intelligence, prompting judges to fight back with fines and reprimands.
The problem reflects well-known issues with AI tools, which are prone to fabricate facts, or in these cases, citations. Soon after AI tools such as ChatGPT began to circulate, attorneys made headlines for submitting error-ridden memos after failing to check AI-assisted work."
October 3, 2026
My full review is available here: https://prairiefoxreads.blogspot.com/...
Expert Witness: When Specialized Knowledge Meets Human Consequence
A courtroom promises clarity: evidence will be presented, witnesses will testify, and a judge or jury will determine what happened. Yet the most consequential cases rarely arrive in neat, comprehensible form. Trauma distorts memory and behavior. Scientific findings must be translated without being oversimplified. Attorneys construct competing narratives from the same set of facts, while jurors are asked to evaluate experiences far outside their own. In that uncertain space stands the expert witness—part educator, part interpreter, and inevitably part participant in an adversarial system.
In Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance, psychiatric nurse and forensic pioneer Ann Wolbert Burgess, writing with Steven Matthew Constantine, examines that role through her involvement in some of the most prominent American criminal cases of recent decades. The book moves among cases associated with the Menendez brothers, Larry Nassar, Bill Cosby, and others, using Burgess’s professional experiences to explain how expert testimony can help courts recognize patterns of trauma, victimization, coercion, and abuse that conventional assumptions might otherwise obscure.
This is neither a detached textbook nor a conventional celebrity-centered true-crime narrative. It is a professional memoir organized around a serious ethical proposition: specialized knowledge matters only when it is communicated accurately, responsibly, and with due regard for the people whose lives are being interpreted. Burgess presents testimony not as a dramatic courtroom performance but as an obligation—a form of public trust whose consequences may extend far beyond the verdict.
Expertise Is Not the Same as Certainty
The book’s most valuable theme is contained in its title. Testimony has weight. An expert arrives in court carrying credentials and institutional authority, and jurors may give that authority more deference than they realize. The expert’s language can validate an injured person’s experience, challenge a misleading stereotype, or explain why apparently puzzling behavior is not necessarily inconsistent with victimization. It can also shape perceptions so powerfully that an opinion begins to sound like an established fact.
Burgess’s account is therefore compelling not simply because she has participated in famous cases, but because her career sits at the intersection of clinical knowledge, forensic analysis, and legal persuasion. These fields overlap, but they do not have identical purposes. A clinician may seek to understand and assist a patient. An investigator seeks to establish what occurred. An attorney advocates within an adversarial process. A court must determine which evidence is legally admissible and sufficiently relevant. The expert witness must navigate these different objectives without allowing professional authority to become advocacy disguised as neutrality.
That tension gives the memoir much of its intellectual substance. Expertise does not remove uncertainty; ideally, it identifies and manages uncertainty. The most trustworthy expert is not necessarily the person who sounds most confident. It may be the person who can distinguish clearly among direct observation, research-supported inference, professional judgment, and speculation.
For readers with an analytic background, this distinction is essential. Courts, like intelligence and policy institutions, must make decisions using incomplete information. Sources vary in reliability. Memories may be sincere but imperfect. Physical findings may permit several interpretations. Organizational interests can influence which facts receive attention. Under these conditions, a responsible assessment should include both conclusions and confidence limits. The strength of Burgess’s approach lies in her insistence that human behavior must be evaluated carefully rather than forced into reassuring but inaccurate scripts.
Trauma and the Myth of the “Correct” Victim
Again and again, high-profile cases reveal how strongly public judgment depends on expectations about how an innocent or traumatized person should behave. A “credible” victim is expected to report immediately, remember consistently, resist visibly, avoid contact with the perpetrator, and recount painful events with an emotionally persuasive balance of composure and distress. Real trauma does not reliably conform to that template.
Burgess’s work has particular significance because psychiatric and forensic expertise can explain behavior that jurors, journalists, or members of the public might otherwise misinterpret. Delayed disclosure does not by itself establish fabrication. Fragmented memory does not necessarily mean that an event did not occur. Continued contact with an alleged abuser may reflect fear, dependency, grooming, family pressure, professional hierarchy, or an effort to survive within constrained circumstances. None of these observations proves a specific allegation, but each complicates the casual assumptions through which allegations are often judged.
That qualification matters. Trauma-informed reasoning should correct misconceptions, not reverse the burden of proof or turn every ambiguous behavior into confirmation. If there is no single “right” way for a victim to behave, then behavior alone cannot provide automatic validation either. The task of the expert is to offer context while respecting the boundary between explaining general patterns and determining the ultimate facts of an individual case.
Expert Witness is most persuasive when it inhabits that difficult middle ground. Compassion and rigor are not adversaries. Taking victims seriously does not require abandoning evidentiary standards; it requires applying those standards without relying on myths that systematically disadvantage people whose responses to harm are unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
A Public-Health View of the Courtroom
Although the book is framed around legal proceedings, its implications extend well beyond the courtroom. Sexual violence, exploitation, and institutional abuse are public-health problems as well as criminal-justice concerns. Their effects can include physical injury, chronic illness, depression, anxiety, substance misuse, disrupted education, lost employment, damaged relationships, and diminished trust in institutions. Those consequences affect families and communities, not only individual complainants and defendants.
The cases discussed also invite systems-level questions. How can abuse continue when warning signs are visible? Why do organizations protect status, reputation, or revenue rather than vulnerable people? What prevents victims from reporting, and what happens when they do? Which institutional procedures reduce harm, and which merely limit liability after harm has occurred?
The Larry Nassar case is especially resonant within this framework because it directs attention toward institutional trust and the vulnerability created when authority, access, and professional prestige converge. Prevention cannot depend solely on identifying a uniquely monstrous offender after extensive damage has occurred. It requires reporting systems that people can safely use, independent oversight, appropriate boundaries, meaningful accountability, and organizational cultures that do not treat reputation management as risk management.
Burgess’s career also illustrates the importance of nurses and other health professionals in fields where their expertise has historically been undervalued. Nursing knowledge is grounded not only in symptoms or diagnoses but also in observation, communication, patient behavior, family systems, vulnerability, and care over time. Those competencies can illuminate dimensions of violence that a narrower clinical or legal model may miss.
Famous Cases, Ordinary Human Beings
The recognizable cases give the book narrative momentum, but fame presents a challenge. Publicized trials accumulate layers of commentary, entertainment, ideology, and retrospective certainty. The individuals involved can become characters in a national drama rather than human beings living with consequences that continue after public attention shifts elsewhere.
Burgess and Constantine attempt to return attention to those human consequences. Their emphasis on interviews, professional encounters, and courtroom experience offers a perspective different from the familiar montage of headlines and verdicts. At its best, the book resists the voyeurism common to true crime by asking not only what happened, but how institutions interpreted what happened—and what those interpretations did to the people involved.
As a mother, I found this aspect especially affecting. Cases involving young people inevitably raise questions about what adults notice, what families can bear, and how dependency complicates disclosure. Parents want to believe they would recognize danger immediately and respond perfectly. The more difficult truth is that manipulation often exploits ordinary trust, while shame and fear can make even loving families slow to understand what is unfolding.
Midlife also changes how I read stories about professional authority. Credentials remain important, but experience teaches that institutions are made of fallible people operating under pressure. Good intentions do not eliminate blind spots, and expertise does not confer immunity from bias. The proper response is not cynicism but disciplined scrutiny: What is known? How is it known? What assumptions connect the evidence to the conclusion? What reasonable alternatives have been considered?
Strengths and Limitations
The book’s principal strength is Burgess herself. Her combined experience in psychiatric nursing, forensic work, and courtroom testimony gives the memoir unusual authority, while the focus on compassion prevents the subject from becoming merely procedural. Constantine helps shape that experience into an accessible narrative for readers who may know little about expert testimony.
The case-driven structure is likely to appeal to true-crime readers, but it serves a larger educational purpose. Rather than discussing testimony only in abstract terms, the book places questions of evidence, trauma, and communication within recognizable situations where errors carry profound consequences. It also traces changing public conversations about sexual violence from the women’s movement of the 1970s through the era of #MeToo, showing that courtroom interpretation does not occur outside culture.
The memoir form nevertheless creates limitations. A first-person professional account is necessarily selective, and the dramatic pull of prominent cases can make the author’s contribution appear more central than the larger network of investigators, clinicians, attorneys, advocates, and survivors involved. Readers should also distinguish between the value of Burgess’s experience and the independent validation of every interpretation attached to a contested case.
At times, the book’s empowerment framework may encourage a cleaner moral arc than either forensic science or the legal system can consistently provide. Speaking truth to power is an admirable principle, but courts must still determine what qualifies as reliable knowledge, where expertise ends, and how competing claims should be weighed. The book could benefit from even more attention to failed expert testimony, disagreement among qualified specialists, and the safeguards needed when authoritative witnesses overstate conclusions.
These reservations do not undermine its central message. They reinforce it. If testimony carries weight, then the ethical management of that weight deserves at least as much attention as the expert’s qualifications.
Final Assessment
Expert Witness succeeds as an engaging professional memoir, an accessible introduction to forensic testimony, and a humane examination of trauma within the justice system. It will appeal to readers of true crime, but its most attentive audience may include nurses, public-health practitioners, attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, and anyone interested in how institutions convert specialized knowledge into consequential decisions.
Its lasting value lies in its refusal to separate evidence from responsibility. Facts matter, but so do the methods by which they are interpreted and the language through which they reach a jury. Compassion without rigor can mislead; rigor without compassion can reproduce damaging myths. Justice requires both.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Coffee pairing: A carefully measured pour-over—strong and clear, best approached slowly, with attention to every layer.
The witness stand may elevate an expert above the courtroom floor, but it should never elevate that expert above uncertainty. The most meaningful testimony does not demand belief because of who is speaking; it earns trust by showing, with humility and precision, how a conclusion was reached—and where its limits remain.
Expert Witness: When Specialized Knowledge Meets Human Consequence
A courtroom promises clarity: evidence will be presented, witnesses will testify, and a judge or jury will determine what happened. Yet the most consequential cases rarely arrive in neat, comprehensible form. Trauma distorts memory and behavior. Scientific findings must be translated without being oversimplified. Attorneys construct competing narratives from the same set of facts, while jurors are asked to evaluate experiences far outside their own. In that uncertain space stands the expert witness—part educator, part interpreter, and inevitably part participant in an adversarial system.
In Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance, psychiatric nurse and forensic pioneer Ann Wolbert Burgess, writing with Steven Matthew Constantine, examines that role through her involvement in some of the most prominent American criminal cases of recent decades. The book moves among cases associated with the Menendez brothers, Larry Nassar, Bill Cosby, and others, using Burgess’s professional experiences to explain how expert testimony can help courts recognize patterns of trauma, victimization, coercion, and abuse that conventional assumptions might otherwise obscure.
This is neither a detached textbook nor a conventional celebrity-centered true-crime narrative. It is a professional memoir organized around a serious ethical proposition: specialized knowledge matters only when it is communicated accurately, responsibly, and with due regard for the people whose lives are being interpreted. Burgess presents testimony not as a dramatic courtroom performance but as an obligation—a form of public trust whose consequences may extend far beyond the verdict.
Expertise Is Not the Same as Certainty
The book’s most valuable theme is contained in its title. Testimony has weight. An expert arrives in court carrying credentials and institutional authority, and jurors may give that authority more deference than they realize. The expert’s language can validate an injured person’s experience, challenge a misleading stereotype, or explain why apparently puzzling behavior is not necessarily inconsistent with victimization. It can also shape perceptions so powerfully that an opinion begins to sound like an established fact.
Burgess’s account is therefore compelling not simply because she has participated in famous cases, but because her career sits at the intersection of clinical knowledge, forensic analysis, and legal persuasion. These fields overlap, but they do not have identical purposes. A clinician may seek to understand and assist a patient. An investigator seeks to establish what occurred. An attorney advocates within an adversarial process. A court must determine which evidence is legally admissible and sufficiently relevant. The expert witness must navigate these different objectives without allowing professional authority to become advocacy disguised as neutrality.
That tension gives the memoir much of its intellectual substance. Expertise does not remove uncertainty; ideally, it identifies and manages uncertainty. The most trustworthy expert is not necessarily the person who sounds most confident. It may be the person who can distinguish clearly among direct observation, research-supported inference, professional judgment, and speculation.
For readers with an analytic background, this distinction is essential. Courts, like intelligence and policy institutions, must make decisions using incomplete information. Sources vary in reliability. Memories may be sincere but imperfect. Physical findings may permit several interpretations. Organizational interests can influence which facts receive attention. Under these conditions, a responsible assessment should include both conclusions and confidence limits. The strength of Burgess’s approach lies in her insistence that human behavior must be evaluated carefully rather than forced into reassuring but inaccurate scripts.
Trauma and the Myth of the “Correct” Victim
Again and again, high-profile cases reveal how strongly public judgment depends on expectations about how an innocent or traumatized person should behave. A “credible” victim is expected to report immediately, remember consistently, resist visibly, avoid contact with the perpetrator, and recount painful events with an emotionally persuasive balance of composure and distress. Real trauma does not reliably conform to that template.
Burgess’s work has particular significance because psychiatric and forensic expertise can explain behavior that jurors, journalists, or members of the public might otherwise misinterpret. Delayed disclosure does not by itself establish fabrication. Fragmented memory does not necessarily mean that an event did not occur. Continued contact with an alleged abuser may reflect fear, dependency, grooming, family pressure, professional hierarchy, or an effort to survive within constrained circumstances. None of these observations proves a specific allegation, but each complicates the casual assumptions through which allegations are often judged.
That qualification matters. Trauma-informed reasoning should correct misconceptions, not reverse the burden of proof or turn every ambiguous behavior into confirmation. If there is no single “right” way for a victim to behave, then behavior alone cannot provide automatic validation either. The task of the expert is to offer context while respecting the boundary between explaining general patterns and determining the ultimate facts of an individual case.
Expert Witness is most persuasive when it inhabits that difficult middle ground. Compassion and rigor are not adversaries. Taking victims seriously does not require abandoning evidentiary standards; it requires applying those standards without relying on myths that systematically disadvantage people whose responses to harm are unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
A Public-Health View of the Courtroom
Although the book is framed around legal proceedings, its implications extend well beyond the courtroom. Sexual violence, exploitation, and institutional abuse are public-health problems as well as criminal-justice concerns. Their effects can include physical injury, chronic illness, depression, anxiety, substance misuse, disrupted education, lost employment, damaged relationships, and diminished trust in institutions. Those consequences affect families and communities, not only individual complainants and defendants.
The cases discussed also invite systems-level questions. How can abuse continue when warning signs are visible? Why do organizations protect status, reputation, or revenue rather than vulnerable people? What prevents victims from reporting, and what happens when they do? Which institutional procedures reduce harm, and which merely limit liability after harm has occurred?
The Larry Nassar case is especially resonant within this framework because it directs attention toward institutional trust and the vulnerability created when authority, access, and professional prestige converge. Prevention cannot depend solely on identifying a uniquely monstrous offender after extensive damage has occurred. It requires reporting systems that people can safely use, independent oversight, appropriate boundaries, meaningful accountability, and organizational cultures that do not treat reputation management as risk management.
Burgess’s career also illustrates the importance of nurses and other health professionals in fields where their expertise has historically been undervalued. Nursing knowledge is grounded not only in symptoms or diagnoses but also in observation, communication, patient behavior, family systems, vulnerability, and care over time. Those competencies can illuminate dimensions of violence that a narrower clinical or legal model may miss.
Famous Cases, Ordinary Human Beings
The recognizable cases give the book narrative momentum, but fame presents a challenge. Publicized trials accumulate layers of commentary, entertainment, ideology, and retrospective certainty. The individuals involved can become characters in a national drama rather than human beings living with consequences that continue after public attention shifts elsewhere.
Burgess and Constantine attempt to return attention to those human consequences. Their emphasis on interviews, professional encounters, and courtroom experience offers a perspective different from the familiar montage of headlines and verdicts. At its best, the book resists the voyeurism common to true crime by asking not only what happened, but how institutions interpreted what happened—and what those interpretations did to the people involved.
As a mother, I found this aspect especially affecting. Cases involving young people inevitably raise questions about what adults notice, what families can bear, and how dependency complicates disclosure. Parents want to believe they would recognize danger immediately and respond perfectly. The more difficult truth is that manipulation often exploits ordinary trust, while shame and fear can make even loving families slow to understand what is unfolding.
Midlife also changes how I read stories about professional authority. Credentials remain important, but experience teaches that institutions are made of fallible people operating under pressure. Good intentions do not eliminate blind spots, and expertise does not confer immunity from bias. The proper response is not cynicism but disciplined scrutiny: What is known? How is it known? What assumptions connect the evidence to the conclusion? What reasonable alternatives have been considered?
Strengths and Limitations
The book’s principal strength is Burgess herself. Her combined experience in psychiatric nursing, forensic work, and courtroom testimony gives the memoir unusual authority, while the focus on compassion prevents the subject from becoming merely procedural. Constantine helps shape that experience into an accessible narrative for readers who may know little about expert testimony.
The case-driven structure is likely to appeal to true-crime readers, but it serves a larger educational purpose. Rather than discussing testimony only in abstract terms, the book places questions of evidence, trauma, and communication within recognizable situations where errors carry profound consequences. It also traces changing public conversations about sexual violence from the women’s movement of the 1970s through the era of #MeToo, showing that courtroom interpretation does not occur outside culture.
The memoir form nevertheless creates limitations. A first-person professional account is necessarily selective, and the dramatic pull of prominent cases can make the author’s contribution appear more central than the larger network of investigators, clinicians, attorneys, advocates, and survivors involved. Readers should also distinguish between the value of Burgess’s experience and the independent validation of every interpretation attached to a contested case.
At times, the book’s empowerment framework may encourage a cleaner moral arc than either forensic science or the legal system can consistently provide. Speaking truth to power is an admirable principle, but courts must still determine what qualifies as reliable knowledge, where expertise ends, and how competing claims should be weighed. The book could benefit from even more attention to failed expert testimony, disagreement among qualified specialists, and the safeguards needed when authoritative witnesses overstate conclusions.
These reservations do not undermine its central message. They reinforce it. If testimony carries weight, then the ethical management of that weight deserves at least as much attention as the expert’s qualifications.
Final Assessment
Expert Witness succeeds as an engaging professional memoir, an accessible introduction to forensic testimony, and a humane examination of trauma within the justice system. It will appeal to readers of true crime, but its most attentive audience may include nurses, public-health practitioners, attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, and anyone interested in how institutions convert specialized knowledge into consequential decisions.
Its lasting value lies in its refusal to separate evidence from responsibility. Facts matter, but so do the methods by which they are interpreted and the language through which they reach a jury. Compassion without rigor can mislead; rigor without compassion can reproduce damaging myths. Justice requires both.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Coffee pairing: A carefully measured pour-over—strong and clear, best approached slowly, with attention to every layer.
The witness stand may elevate an expert above the courtroom floor, but it should never elevate that expert above uncertainty. The most meaningful testimony does not demand belief because of who is speaking; it earns trust by showing, with humility and precision, how a conclusion was reached—and where its limits remain.
October 10, 2025
This was a very interesting book , we see Dr Burgess’s pioneering techniques in action and get an inside look at some off the most famous case’s of the 20th century. I recommend it if you are into true crime stories
May 25, 2026
I think I would’ve liked this book more had we gotten a little bit more about the active cases rather than just the aftermath. The epilogue pissed me off to no end so rating got tanked. 2.5/5 ⭐️
November 21, 2025
I loved seeing Ann Burgess speak at CrimeCon earlier this year, so of course I had to grab her book! I loved seeing how she used her expertise to act as an expert witness in (or consult on) a variety of cases, and taking a look into her work in general. It was also interesting to see how expert witnesses came to be a part of the court system, plus the behind-the-scenes looks into cases like the Menendez brothers. It was shocking and horrifying, and I recommend picking this up if you have any interest in criminal behavior analysis, forensic psychology, and the court system.
January 3, 2026
I went into Expert Witness expecting a gripping deep dive into the world of forensic testimony, and the immense responsibility carried by those whose words can sway justice. Ann Burgess undoubtedly brings credibility and experience to the page, and it’s clear she has lived much of what she writes about. The expertise is the book’s strongest asset.
However, while the knowledge is there, the execution didn’t quite land for me.
There are moments of genuine insight into the emotional and ethical weight of being an expert witness, and some passages are thought provoking. I also appreciated the chapters touching on the Melendez Brothers case. Still, I found myself wanting a better balance between personal reflection and technical details.
Overall it felt a little…. flat. Informative, but lacking the narrative pull that keeps you truly engaged.
Would I recommend it? Only to niche readers with a strong interest in the subject. For general true crime or nonfiction readers seeking a compelling, accessible read, this one may feel underwhelming.
2.5 stars
August 16, 2026
I was going to call this 3.5 stars rounded down, but something in the epilogue, per about all other 2-star and 1-star reviewers lost it another star.
Then, I got to rethinking about the rest of that, and even without the afterward issue, I'm just not sure I could put the rest of the book above 2.5.
So, 1.5 rounded down.
OK, first, I was expecting something different, especially from the subtitle, when I grabbed this at the library. (I had not heard of the author before.)
I was expecting either:
A legal history overview of the development of expert witnesses, with court cases, precedents and such, especially in complex scientific fields, or
Interviews/profiles/mini-biographies of specific expert witnesses in a variety of fields.
Instead, in this slim volume (that itself is a bit of a ding), we got the main author, Burgess, herself an expert witness, talking about a few cases, after giving the barest bones of legal history and precedent. In other words, there is NO "our," contra the subtitle. And, the second author is just a university MFA teacher, I guess to polish her prose.
Burgess' background is sexual assault expert witness testimony, including profiling of suspects, victims (for courtroom stability and related) and in one case, an accuser. She learned some of this from FBI study at Quantico.
She worked for the defense in the Menendez brothers murder case, for the defense in the imploded Duke lacrosse case, and on the civil side, for one of the civil plaintiffs against Bill Cosby. And, that's it.
An additional problem? Burgess doesn't present full facts of the Menendez case, namely that their dad had disinherited him in a change in his will, that Lyle offered to bribe his ex-girlfriend before the trial, and that they were denied parole most recently just a year ago due to various mendacity issues in prison. See their Wiki page.
The additional 1 star of loss in the epilogue? Her massive touting of the use of AI in the future. Hard pass.
The one other takeaway?
At least I didn't have to read bullshit from or about Elizabeth Loftus.
Per the above, I can't shelve this on "law and legal theory." It goes under "true crime," and per the Menendez brothers, "mendaciousness." They may, or may not, have been sexually abused. But the presentation is mendacious here.
Then, I got to rethinking about the rest of that, and even without the afterward issue, I'm just not sure I could put the rest of the book above 2.5.
So, 1.5 rounded down.
OK, first, I was expecting something different, especially from the subtitle, when I grabbed this at the library. (I had not heard of the author before.)
I was expecting either:
A legal history overview of the development of expert witnesses, with court cases, precedents and such, especially in complex scientific fields, or
Interviews/profiles/mini-biographies of specific expert witnesses in a variety of fields.
Instead, in this slim volume (that itself is a bit of a ding), we got the main author, Burgess, herself an expert witness, talking about a few cases, after giving the barest bones of legal history and precedent. In other words, there is NO "our," contra the subtitle. And, the second author is just a university MFA teacher, I guess to polish her prose.
Burgess' background is sexual assault expert witness testimony, including profiling of suspects, victims (for courtroom stability and related) and in one case, an accuser. She learned some of this from FBI study at Quantico.
She worked for the defense in the Menendez brothers murder case, for the defense in the imploded Duke lacrosse case, and on the civil side, for one of the civil plaintiffs against Bill Cosby. And, that's it.
An additional problem? Burgess doesn't present full facts of the Menendez case, namely that their dad had disinherited him in a change in his will, that Lyle offered to bribe his ex-girlfriend before the trial, and that they were denied parole most recently just a year ago due to various mendacity issues in prison. See their Wiki page.
The additional 1 star of loss in the epilogue? Her massive touting of the use of AI in the future. Hard pass.
The one other takeaway?
At least I didn't have to read bullshit from or about Elizabeth Loftus.
Per the above, I can't shelve this on "law and legal theory." It goes under "true crime," and per the Menendez brothers, "mendaciousness." They may, or may not, have been sexually abused. But the presentation is mendacious here.
April 13, 2026
Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC.
Ann Wolbert Burgess’s Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance offers a compelling look into the moral and psychological terrain navigated by professionals whose words can influence the course of justice. Rather than presenting expert testimony as purely technical or procedural, Burgess frames it as a deeply human responsibility—one shaped by experience, doubt, and the ever-present awareness of consequences.
This book explores the intersection of science and storytelling. Burgess illustrates how experts must translate complex behavioral insights into language that judges and juries can understand, all while maintaining accuracy and integrity. This balancing act becomes a central tension throughout the work, highlighting how easily nuance can be lost—or misinterpreted—under pressure.
The narrative underscores the emotional toll carried by those who operate in this space. Burgess does not shy away from the weight of witnessing trauma secondhand or the burden of knowing that a single misstep could alter someone’s life irrevocably. This introspective layer gives the book depth, transforming it from a procedural account into a reflection on accountability and ethical resilience.
At times, the pacing leans more reflective than dramatic, but this ultimately reinforces the seriousness of the subject matter. The book isn’t trying to sensationalize the courtroom; instead, it invites readers to sit with the gravity of decisions made there.
Expert Witness is a thoughtful and quietly powerful exploration of truth, responsibility, and the fragile line between interpretation and judgment. It will resonate with readers interested not just in criminal justice, but in the broader question of what it means to speak with authority when the stakes could not be higher.
Ann Wolbert Burgess’s Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance offers a compelling look into the moral and psychological terrain navigated by professionals whose words can influence the course of justice. Rather than presenting expert testimony as purely technical or procedural, Burgess frames it as a deeply human responsibility—one shaped by experience, doubt, and the ever-present awareness of consequences.
This book explores the intersection of science and storytelling. Burgess illustrates how experts must translate complex behavioral insights into language that judges and juries can understand, all while maintaining accuracy and integrity. This balancing act becomes a central tension throughout the work, highlighting how easily nuance can be lost—or misinterpreted—under pressure.
The narrative underscores the emotional toll carried by those who operate in this space. Burgess does not shy away from the weight of witnessing trauma secondhand or the burden of knowing that a single misstep could alter someone’s life irrevocably. This introspective layer gives the book depth, transforming it from a procedural account into a reflection on accountability and ethical resilience.
At times, the pacing leans more reflective than dramatic, but this ultimately reinforces the seriousness of the subject matter. The book isn’t trying to sensationalize the courtroom; instead, it invites readers to sit with the gravity of decisions made there.
Expert Witness is a thoughtful and quietly powerful exploration of truth, responsibility, and the fragile line between interpretation and judgment. It will resonate with readers interested not just in criminal justice, but in the broader question of what it means to speak with authority when the stakes could not be higher.
May 23, 2026
Reading Expert Witness was such an interesting experience, especially as someone who loves true crime and psychology. I really enjoyed learning about the different cases discussed throughout the book, and some of them have stayed in my mind long after finishing it. The cases involving the Menendez brothers and Nassar were the ones that stood out to me the most.
The Nassar case was especially heartbreaking, but also incredibly important. One thing that struck me while reading was how much society has changed when it comes to discussing sexual abuse. Years ago, so many victims were expected to stay quiet, move on, and never speak about their trauma. Because survivors have become more empowered to come forward, more people now feel less alone in sharing their experiences. Unfortunately, trauma doesn’t just disappear when it’s ignored, and this book did a good job showing the long-lasting psychological impact these situations can have.
When it came to the Menendez brothers case, I know there are many strong opinions surrounding it. Personally, I still believe they should remain in prison because I’m not fully convinced by the abuse claims. At the same time, I understand others may feel differently, and that’s okay. Cases like these are complicated, emotional, and often leave people divided.
Overall, I thought this was a fascinating and well-written read. I’m really glad Morbidly Curious Book Club selected it because it led to a lot of reflection and discussion for me. As someone who is only a year away from earning my Doctorate in Psychology, I found the psychological aspects of these cases especially compelling. This book was both educational and deeply thought-provoking.
The Nassar case was especially heartbreaking, but also incredibly important. One thing that struck me while reading was how much society has changed when it comes to discussing sexual abuse. Years ago, so many victims were expected to stay quiet, move on, and never speak about their trauma. Because survivors have become more empowered to come forward, more people now feel less alone in sharing their experiences. Unfortunately, trauma doesn’t just disappear when it’s ignored, and this book did a good job showing the long-lasting psychological impact these situations can have.
When it came to the Menendez brothers case, I know there are many strong opinions surrounding it. Personally, I still believe they should remain in prison because I’m not fully convinced by the abuse claims. At the same time, I understand others may feel differently, and that’s okay. Cases like these are complicated, emotional, and often leave people divided.
Overall, I thought this was a fascinating and well-written read. I’m really glad Morbidly Curious Book Club selected it because it led to a lot of reflection and discussion for me. As someone who is only a year away from earning my Doctorate in Psychology, I found the psychological aspects of these cases especially compelling. This book was both educational and deeply thought-provoking.
June 9, 2026
In all the FBI memoirs of catching criminals that I’ve read, the authors spend a lot of time talking about how great they are at their jobs. I think that any reader of these books would take that for granted and wouldn’t need it repeated quite so often.
That said, this memoir is unique in that it’s written by a woman. She’s not a cop who catches criminals but an advocate focusing on victims of sexual trauma. She has spent her career training the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
Sometimes those victims are perpetrators as well, for example, the Menendez brothers who killed their parents. More often, the ones Burgess advocates for have been victims of crimes, for example, the women Bill Cosby drugged and raped.
Throughout, Burgess emphasizes that an expert witness needs to stick to the truth, to avoid any cultural or confirmation bias, and that testifying for the prosecution or the defense is irrelevant. The truth is what matters, and getting the jury to understand that truth is paramount.
I found the epilogue alarming in that Burgess has wholeheartedly embraced AI. She naively believes that it should be an assistant to human investigation and analysis, not addressing the issues of racial bias that are built into the AI design. Her book was published less than a year ago so she had to have been aware of these problems. But she’s optimistic that we can use AI to help us rather than it doing our work for us and making mistakes all the way. I hope she writes a revised edition where the epilogue is more nuanced.
That said, this memoir is unique in that it’s written by a woman. She’s not a cop who catches criminals but an advocate focusing on victims of sexual trauma. She has spent her career training the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
Sometimes those victims are perpetrators as well, for example, the Menendez brothers who killed their parents. More often, the ones Burgess advocates for have been victims of crimes, for example, the women Bill Cosby drugged and raped.
Throughout, Burgess emphasizes that an expert witness needs to stick to the truth, to avoid any cultural or confirmation bias, and that testifying for the prosecution or the defense is irrelevant. The truth is what matters, and getting the jury to understand that truth is paramount.
I found the epilogue alarming in that Burgess has wholeheartedly embraced AI. She naively believes that it should be an assistant to human investigation and analysis, not addressing the issues of racial bias that are built into the AI design. Her book was published less than a year ago so she had to have been aware of these problems. But she’s optimistic that we can use AI to help us rather than it doing our work for us and making mistakes all the way. I hope she writes a revised edition where the epilogue is more nuanced.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews