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GOV425: Human Rights/Human Wrongs

IST426: Political Asylum Practicum

Expert Witness Guide


I. Guidelines for requesting an Expert Witness

Paragraph 1:
1. Address your request politely and with a title (ie: Dear Dr. Dicklitch)
2. Say where what class you are in, where you are writing from (F&M), and where F&M is located.
3. State who you are representing.
4. Name how you received this persons name or contact information

Paragraph 2:
5. Give a brief description of your client to peak the interest of your reader. This must include where
he/she is from, and any relevant information to the case such as religion, ethnicity, political party,
etc.
6. Make this BRIEF, but informative.

Paragraph 3:
7. Give time frame when the hearing is, etc.
8. Say why you would appreciate this experts testimony. Feel free to flatter (not too excessively) and
state that you know their time might be busy, but how important it is to the case.

End:
9. Thank them and give your contact information.


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II. Sample letter requesting an Expert Witness

Dear Dr. Dicklitch,

We are students at the Clinic for Asylum and Refugee Services (CARES) at the Villanova University School
of Law in Villanova, Pennsylvania. We are representing a client from Cameroon who is seeking asylum in
the United States. Through research in our Clinics files, we learned that you wrote an extremely effective
affidavit for a past client of our Clinic who was also from Cameroon. We are writing to you in hopes that you
may be willing to be the expert witness for our case as well.

Our client is a member of an opposition political party in Cameroon, and participated in two peaceful anti-
government protests in Yaound. Each protest was met with violence by the police. Following each protest,
our client was arrested and detained by police; during our clients detentions, our client suffered multiple
instances of interrogation and torture. Of primary importance is the fact that our client is an Anglophone,
married to a Francophone who is an active member of the majority political party and holds a position within
the Biya government. As a consequence of our clients marital circumstances and opposition political
activities, the Biya government considers our client a traitor.

If possible, we would sincerely appreciate if you would be willing to work with us on this case. Several
aspects of our current clients circumstances appear quite similar to those of our past client whom you
assisted. We understand that as a busy professor, your time is quite limited. We would be extremely
grateful for your assistance; we believe that your help will be invaluable in gaining asylum for our client. The
hearing will be Wednesday, November 15

Thank you very much for your consideration in this matter, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Names
Institution
Location

Phone Number
Email Address