PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Thomas G. Gutheil
TI  - The Problem of Evasive Testimony: The Expert “Waffle”
DP  - 2007 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 112--117
VI  - 35
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/35/1/112.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/35/1/112.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2007 Mar 01; 35
AB  - Confronted with a difficult, unexpected, or confrontational question, an expert witness may answer by attempting to overwhelm the questioner with words, sometimes highly evasive ones, that avoid, rather than actually address, the question asked. Such a discursive response is sometimes called a “waffle,” as in “The expert's answer was a waffle.” This review notes some examples of this phenomenon and attempts to categorize them in a meaningful way. An ancillary goal of this discussion may be to aid experts in focusing their answers.