Research Psychologist
David F. Ross, Ph.D. is a UC Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dr. Ross received his Ph.D. in Developmental and Social Psychology from Cornell University. Over the last 40 years he has conducted research on factors that influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony in children and adults, and the psychology of jury behavior. He has published seven scientific volumes on psycholegal issues circulating worldwide.
Dr. Ross has published numerous articles in top-tier scientific journals; he was invited on two occasions to present his work at NATO conferences on eyewitness memory in children and adults and jury behavior; and he received funding from the National Institute of Justice and from the National Science Foundation for his psycholegal research that subsequently resulted in an award from the American Psychology and Law Society. Dr. Ross served as a member of the editorial board for Law and Human Behavior, and he served as a guest editor for a volume on hearsay testimony and the child witness that appeared in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, a journal published by the University of Arizona College of Law and the University of Miami School of Law. Dr. Ross also published an invited article on child witnesses that appeared in Law and Contemporary Problems, a journal that is published by the Duke University School of Law. The State Supreme Court in several states has relied upon the research conducted by Dr. Ross in deciding cases regarding the admissibility of eyewitness identification evidence.
Trial Consulting History
Dr. Ross has also served as a consultant to lawyers nationwide on trial strategy, conducting mock trials, detecting deception in witnesses, designing opening and closing statements, evaluating eyewitness testimony in children and adults, witness preparation, and jury selection.
Dr. Ross also conducts change of venue studies and provides expert testimony to support change of venue motions. Dr. Ross has consulted on numerous highly publicized cases for major corporations across the United States. Dr. Ross was part of a plaintiff team that produced a 36-million-dollar jury award, the 15th largest award rendered in the US for that year. Dr. Ross also has a specialization in serving as a mitigation expert in death penalty cases.
Providing Legal Education
Dr. Ross has provided numerous educational seminars to legal and mental health professionals on how to interview the child witness, the accuracy of adult eyewitness testimony, the psychology of jury behavior and jury selection, detecting deception in witnesses, and techniques for jury persuasion.
Additionally, Dr. Ross has testified as an expert witness on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony in state and federal courts and Dr. Ross served on the faculty at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation where he teaches law enforcement how to use the proper procedures and protocols in collecting identification evidence.
Giving Back & Awards
Dr. Ross testified pro bono in a case where his expertise and research in eyewitness identification directly resulted in the exoneration of Anthony Williams who had had been wrongly convicted of first degree murder at age 14. At the time Dr. Ross testified, Mr. Williams had served 20 years of a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Finally, Dr. Ross was recently awarded the Chattanooga Bar Association Liberty Bell Award. This award is given to “recognize community service that has strengthened the American system of freedom under law.” Finally, Dr. Ross was also awarded the Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award.