Currently an Expert Witness in a Federal Criminal Case

[Aetherius Rimor]

My Situation
I've found myself in the position of writing a report as an "expert witness" on behalf of the defense due to my career in cognitive science. However my academic focus has been more so in the artificial intelligence and psychology realm; less so in the organic chemistry realm. While the lawyer is extremely happy with the report I've provided, he's asked me if I knew of anyone with a more extensive and verifiable curriculum vitae in the realm of organic chemistry; with a pharmacology background being a bonus.

The Case
The federal government is attempting to charge the defendant with the manufacturing and distribution of Dimethyltryptamine based on the net weight of the entire plant matter along with all the substances added during the extraction process; the DEA lab reports conveniently left the "Purity" and "Amount of Pure Substance" fields blank; despite the GC-MS test they used to identify the substance being capable of providing this information based on my research. The defense is also challenging the DEA's classification of DMT as a Schedule 1 drug due to it being "dangerous, addictive, blah, blah, blah" which my report also disputes.

My Request
Is anyone here with the necessary background capable and willing to work with the lawyer to review/certify/add more details to the report I've written? The lawyer's concern is that the prosecution will attempt to bring in their own expert witness to challenge my findings; so the defense attorney would like to have a second more highly qualified expert confirm my findings as well to prevent any issues as my expertise and experience in Cognitive Science has been primarily focused in Artificial Intelligence, not biochemistry.

The lawyer said a formal statement by a credentialed expert with a verifiable curriculum vitae sent via PDF with contact details and signature would be acceptable. I've reached out to one of the Professor's I know personally know who typically assists me with these situations but he tends to be pretty busy usually so I decided to reach out here as well.

I'm not in a position to make any promises or guarantees about compensation for your time, but if that is something you require I'm sure it could be discussed with the lawyer. I'm doing this pro-bono personally.

While we have the ability to lookup expert witnesses for hire on various websites, it's our hope to find one with more intimately familiar with the subject matter; hence me reaching out here!

Thanks everyone and while it's been years since I've posted here, I'm happy to see DMT Nexus is still up and running and seeing some familiar names still posting :d

If you're willing to assist or know of someone who might be, let me know!

 

[RhythmSpring]

Bump

A good cause.

 

[dreamer042]

Have you considered reaching out to someone like David Nichols or Rick Strassman? I don't know if they'd be willing to get involved with a criminal case like this, but I think their expertise would be unquestionable.

 

[Loveall]

If not checked already, a possible resource is the Ayahuasca defence fund (ADF). I don't know much about them, but worth a look perhaps.

 

[endlessness]

Maybe you can also try contacting ICEERS.

Good luck!

If its not too much to ask, it would be good to know the outcome of this.

Thanks!

 

[Mindlusion]

Really sucks to see a case like that. Typical. often there is not enough evidence to convict and in large part due to incomptence of the police department,so typically they just try to take as much from you as they can physically and psychologically while the power is in their hands, afterwards the police have no power its all in the hands of the justice department beaucracy. I would fit the bill for what your asking but for legal reasons of my own, cannot comment. Perhaps if it were synthesis, but you don't exactly need a phd in organic chemistry for a DMT extraction as an expert witness. Thefact that they weigh everythign and use that number is pathetic

 

[Voidmatrix]

If I remember correctly there was an episode of Hamilton's Pharmacopeia wherein a young gentleman was charged for the total amount of bark as the illicit substance rather than the potential percentage of the substance that can be extracted from the bark, much like this case here. Not sure how much that can help, but this kind of poor charging is common.

One love

 

[Achilles]

I’ll be sending good vibes your way man I really hope something’s able to be done. We’re past the point of the information not being readily available. It’s just a shame the system is still willing to ignore facts while ruining peoples lives and calling it “justice”…. Hopefully one day people will wake up… anyways, good luck and give ‘em hell

 

[Aetherius Rimor]

I've sent the lawyer all the recommendations y'all have given me as well as the names of one researcher I know personally.

I'll let y'all know more details as things continue. Defense strategies are multi-pronged at this point so I'm not sure which direction this will go.

 

[Aetherius Rimor]

Update: Turns out that my report was good enough, along with several other factors, that the Judge completely ignored the prosecution's requests and sentenced to time served + a few months + a small fine!

Thank you everyone for your feedback when I needed help