TY - JOUR T1 - Addressing the Perfect Phantom on the Witness Stand JF - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online JO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law SP - 541 LP - 543 VL - 36 IS - 4 AU - Stanley L. Brodsky AU - Phil Heller Y1 - 2008/12/01 UR - http://jaapl.org/content/36/4/541.abstract N2 - When expert witnesses are cross-examined, a common gambit of opposing counsel is to create a phantom for comparison purposes. The constructed phantom is typically portrayed as an individual who has gone through similar, difficult life circumstances without the impairments or problematic behavioral sequelae of the plaintiff or defendant in the trial. Abuse histories, assaults, and traumatic experiences all are posited to have little effect on this phantom other, an invulnerability that leads us to call this construct the Perfect Phantom. In this article, the nature of the Perfect Phantom cross-examination is described, along with strategies for coping with these questions. ER -