Laying the Foundation
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Laying the Foundation
While any picture is worth a thousand words, a thermal image needs an interpreter. When thermal imagery is used as evidence, thermographers can expect to be called upon to testify.
An infrared picture is more like an x-ray than a photograph in this respect, in that its admissibility at trial will depend on an expert thermographer to explain its meaning, since without that expert testimony the judge or jury may be misled rather than helped by the evidence.
An expert thermographer may be hired to give an opinion in court regarding the meaning of a thermal image which he did not make. If so, it is likely that the author of the image must also be called to testify in order to “lay the foundation” for the introduction of the image into evidence.
When a thermal image is used as proof of some fact relevant to the outcome of a case, it must be “authenticated” or identified for the court, which requires other evidence such as the maker’s testimony that the image is what it claims to be.
Although an ordinary photograph may be authenticated by anyone with first hand knowledge of the scene depicted, a thermal image is a bit more complicated – more like an x-ray, cat scan or sonogram whose introduction into evidence may require the technician to testify that the image was taken of a particular patient on a particular day.
In the same way, if a thermal image is proposed for introduction into evidence, to be used as the basis for an expert opinion at trial, the thermographer who made the image will be called as a fact witness to lay the necessary evidentiary foundation.
Tip Provided by:
Robert J. Incollingo, Attorney at Law
4 Munn Avenue
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
856-857-1500
www.rjilaw.com
