Why is it important?

Reconstruction can be extremely important because it is often used in legal proceedings. Often reconstruction experts are called in to testify in court, especially in vehicular manslaughter cases. Because of this, it's vital that the information presented to the court by reconstruction experts is correct.

One forensic engineer who was called to help in a legal situation was reconstruction expert Myron Lofgren of Minnesota . Lofgren was called to testify in a case against Edwin Rodriguez, who was allegedly speeding when his vehicle crashed into and killed three teenagers. Lofgren was “grilled” during the case, according to journalist Andrew Smith, because new developments in the case caused his prior testimonies to conflict. Lofgren had formerly testified that Rodriguez's high speeds caused the teenagers' car to explode upon impact, but after further investigation, he found that the vehicle's gas tank was dragging on the ground and ignited when the vehicle was hit (“Expert Grilled on Fatal Crash,” 2000).

While Lofgren's credibility was analyzed because he didn't realize that the gas tank was dragging on the ground during the accident until much later, other reconstruction experts are criticized because of errors made in the reconstruction process. Because reconstruction is such a delicate process, it is absolutely vital that the people who practice it have the appropriate backgrounds.

Next: How is reconstruction performed?

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