Book Summary and Reviews of Expert Witness by Ann Wolbert Burgess

Book Summary

Following on the heels 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, from the Menendez brothers to Larry Nasser to Bill Cosby, based on Dr. Ann Burgess' personal experiences within the criminal justice system.

For decades, when criminal cases of the most unprecedented nature went to trial, one woman took the stand to separate truth from fiction. Expert Witness is the extraordinary story of forensic and psychiatric pioneer Dr. Ann Burgess—inspiration for Hulu's forthcoming docuseries Mastermind—and how she revolutionized what it means to be an expert witness in the American court 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 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. Unlike any book before it, 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 and shows how powerful courtroom testimony can be.

Throughout the narrative, each case deepens the reader's understanding of the art and science of expert testimony. And while the cases on their own are fascinating, it's the never before told stories of the individuals at the heart of such groundbreaking cases that gives Expert Witness its powerful sense of urgency, relevance, and framework of understanding, 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.