Child (Custody) School Evaluation Expert Witnesses: 7

John S. Bukata is a seasoned, goal-oriented, and performance-driven Police Executive with over 42 years of demonstrated success in a broad range of settings, including law enforcement, city government, strategic planning, child dependency, and safety and security in university campus environment. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Bukata provides expert witness services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defense in both civil and criminal cases. As a Senior Law Enforcement Professional, FBI National Academy and FBI LEEDS graduate, a Chief of Police, Executive Lieutenant, Unit Commander, and Director of Safety and Security at a large national university, he offers unique and knowledgeable opinions on Police Practices and Procedures and Negligent Security issues.

Areas of Expertise:

About Bukata & Associates

Background Experience - Mr. Bukata has been a State of Florida sworn law enforcement officer since 1981 in a supervision or leadership/management role since 1992; retiring as a Chief of Police. He has conducted and managed complex investigations in a Federal, State and local environments during his tenure as the Deputy Director of the Broward Sheriff's Office Strategic Investigations Division, formally known as the Organized Crime Division. 

Mr. Bukata has authored, managed, and evaluated police policies and procedures for over 3 decades. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management, is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Course, and the Southern Police Institute Command Officers Development Course. Mr. Bukata has also been a university professor at various universities and colleges since 2002.

View Bukata & Associates' Consulting Profile.

Virginia Rhodes, Ed.D. has an extensive background in public schooling with over 35 years of experience in duty and standard of care: teacher, principal, hiring, supervision, evaluation and instruction in K-12 settings. Her research and role as an elected school board member in a large city district informs her expertise in school policy and district administrative and teaching functions. Dr. Rhodes provides expert witness research, reports & testimony for districts and law firms, working with both plaintiff and defense cases. Dr. Rhodes' services are available nationally and internationally, as she is culturally competent, and travels regularly, presenting at conferences and observing schools. Previous cases have included student injury & death, religious/race, disability discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual abuse, physical abuse of children with multiple abilities, administrative supervision, teacher supervision, actions of paraprofessionals including teacher assistants, security guards, and school resource officers, as well as school evaluations & recommendations for school selection in domestic cases. 

Areas of school-related expertise include:

• Disciplinary policy & practices
• Standard of care and duty for administrative, teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff
• Safety issues: accidents, health & other safety and emergency procedures
• Physical and/or sexual abuse of students by staff or peers
• Teacher & administrator personnel issues: hiring/firing/discrimination/training/evaluation
• School climate, culture, SEL (social-emotional learning), trauma-informed practice
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) issues or incidents within both personnel and student settings
• Challenges of hIgh-poverty schools & districts
• Urban school research & new trends in teacher leadership
• Issues involving STEM, environmental, magnet, and other specialty programming
• Deposition & court testimony, document review & analysis
• Innovative & 21st-century practices vs. typical or common but unacceptable practices

View Dr. Rhodes' Consulting Profile.

Charles H. Heller, PhD, is a Forensic Psychology Expert with over 35 years of experience in his field. Dr. Heller is currently on staff at Rutgers University Biomedical Health Service, specializing in criminal behavior and risk assessment. He also serves as a forensic psychologist consultant for the Rockland County (NY) court evaluation service, where he has performed hundreds of child custody, as well as criminal competency and child abuse/neglect evaluations.

Litigation Support - Dr. Heller specializes in conducting custody evaluations, providing the review and analysis of potentially mitigating circumstances in connection with criminal behavior, and providing consultation to attorneys regarding civil litigation. He has extensive court experience in Civil, Criminal, and Family Court cases. Dr. Heller is a fully vetted and approved forensic psychologist for the NJ Office of the Public Defender as well as other Public Defender offices. (Federal Public Defender, Legal Aid in Manhattan, Bronx, Kings, and the NYC assigned counsel program). He often travels throughout the US as a forensic consultant in important court cases including military Court Martials, death row assessment, sexual abuse, assault, and multiple homicides. He is well-known and respected among his colleagues as a clinician and as a forensic psychologist/expert witness.

Civil Litigation - (Emotional and Mental Injury) - Dr. Heller is retained by both plaintiff and defense counsel to assess plaintiffs for emotional and mental injury. He takes an unbiased, ethical approach to assessments and is not "a hired gun." He is an expert in objective evaluations that assess the probability the plaintiff is suffering PTSD, other emotional injuries, or if there is an exaggeration of symptoms based upon psychological testing and other data. He has expertise in cases that involve group home / residential schools, provider negligence, and assaults.

Criminal Litigation - Dr. Heller is experienced in providing successful rebuttal testimony explaining the scientific issues related to the problems of validity, reliability, and usefulness of "Syndrome evidence" such as "Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome" and "Rape Trauma Syndrome." He testifies in child sexual abuse cases and explains research related to false allegations, recantations, memory, suggestibility, child testimony, interview protocols, and "Believed-In Imaginings" in children and adults. He has expertise in domestic violence and has assessed women who have been victims of intimate partner violence and "Battered Women Syndrome" that contributed to homicides, assaults, and other felonies by the victims of abuse.

View Dr. Heller's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Jane K. McNaught, PhD is a locally and nationally recognized Forensic Psychological Expert specializing in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with adults and children. Over the course of her more than 35 years of practice, she has worked with both Defense and Plaintiff attorneys and has also been a Court appointed expert.

Dr. McNaught has administered more than 1700 psychological test batteries and testified on over 500 occasions as a forensic expert in the areas of: Civil, Criminal, and Family Law. She also provides trial consultation for attorneys. Dr. McNaught has  been qualified and testified as an expert in PTSD, for both the U.S. Army as well as the U.S. Navy. In addition she has testified as an expert in both District and Federal court. Dr. McNaught practices in the areas of Civil, Criminal, and Family Law cases involving trauma to both adults and children.

In the Civil area, Dr. McNaught is frequently hired as an expert when there are allegations of Emotional Damages involving Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dr. McNaught has been hired in cases of alleged sexual misconduct within institutional settings such as: Schools, Churches, Treatment Centers, Hospitals, Residential Centers for the Handicapped, Jails and other Police alleged violations.

The following are cases where Dr. McNaugth has been an expert:  PTSD cases involving veterans;  injuries related to Motor Vehicle Injuries/Death; Dog Bite; Amputation; Burns; and Electrocution. Dr. McNaught has also been an expert in  Medical Malpractice Cases,Wrongful Death, and Infant Death cases. Employment Law Experience in cases  involving Age or Sexual Harassment where PTSD is alleged. 

In the Criminal area, Dr. McNaught is hired by both the Prosecution as well as Defense in cases involving Sexual Misconduct. She also conducts evaluations of Defendants in criminal cases where Underlying Psychological Conditions may impact sentencing. She has also  been obtained as an expert to evaluate the reliability of statements obtained from alleged victims of sexual assault. When doing so, Dr. McNaught addresses the following: Recantation, Memory Research, and the Standard of Care for Interviewing Victims of Sexual Assault. 

In the area of Family Law, Dr. McNaught specializes in High Conflict Divorce and and provides consultation in issues related to:  Relocation; Endangerment; Factitious Disorder by Proxy; Parental Capacity; and Parental Alienation. Dr. McNaught is also frequently obtained as an expert to critique other evaluator's reports.

View Dr. McNaught's Consulting Profile.

Jeffrey A. Sugar, MD has been a practicing Psychiatrist for over 20 years. Dr. Sugar is board certified both in Child and General Psychiatry. He is Past President of the Southern California Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Sugar  is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at USC, and has been an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA. Dr. Sugar is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA where he sees patients, teaches psychiatry, and performs research. He is Attending Psychiatrist in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics at USC. He teaches child and general psychiatrists-in-training and medical students on topics ranging from Trauma, Adversity, and Dissociation to Psychotherapy theory and methods.

Dr. Sugar was the founding director of the Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute where he performed funded research on the effects of interpersonal child trauma. Dr. Sugar has presented at national and international meetings on child and adolescent Trauma and Dissociation. Director, Child Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine .. Dr. Sugar has been worked with the legal industry since 1988. Qualified in Superior court, he has been retained over 40 times as an expert in a broad range of child and general psychiatric cases, for both Plaintiff and Defense. His services include:

• Consultation Regarding Psychiatric Injury, Diagnosis, Treatment
• Record Review and Opinion
• Psychiatric Interview and Mental Status Evaluation
• Expert testimony

Dr. Sugar's litigation support is available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. His Areas of Expertise include:

Professional Training:

• MD: University of California, San Francisco
• General Psychiatry: Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, California
• Child Psychiatry: UCLA-Neuropsychiatric Institute
• Chief Fellow: UCLA

View Dr. Sugar's Consulting Profile.

Dr. John F. Doherty is an experienced Public and Private School Educator who has focused his work on improving schools through effective hiring practices, supervision and training of staff, and building a school culture of sustainability. In his current role, he serves as a School Liability Expert Witness.

Dr. Doherty has over 35 years of experience as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, department chair, coach, and teacher. He is the co-chair of the Massachusetts Department of Education Safe and Supportive Schools Commission and chair of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Professional Development Committee.

Litigation Support - Dr. Doherty provides consultation and expert witness services to plaintiff and defendant attorneys throughout the US and Canada. As a court-qualified education administration and supervision expert, he applies his experience, education, and training to the review and analysis of cases to determine the professional standard of care from case inception to resolution, including expert reports, deposition, and trial testimony.

Ideal Client Engagement - Attorneys litigating matters involving the question of liability for school or youth-serving agencies (daycare, camps, aftercare, church childcare) regarding the standard of care, student-supervision, staff training, in any type of injury or incident involving the school/agency, such as wrongful death, personal injury, sexual harassment/abuse, Title IX, Section 1983, in daycare through college/university and more.

Areas of Expertise:

Dr. Joseph S. Schwartzberg, is an Educational Consultant / Expert Witness who provides consultation and testimony on cases involving students with disabilities and School safety matters.. Dr. Schwartzberg was responsible for developing and administering legally compliant special education and general programs for 35 school districts in NY before doing likewise for the 14 districts of North San Diego County. For 13 years, he served as the Senior Director of the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education for the San Diego County Office of Education. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Schwartzberg has provided expert witness services to counsel representing both plaintiff and defense in state,federal as well as family court. 

Areas of Expertise:

• IDEA
• School Safety
• ADA
• Standards of Care
• Other Agency Responsibilities
• Non-public Schools
• Appropriate Programming for Students with Disabilities

Certification / Credentials:

• School Administrator and Supervisor (SAS)
• School District Administrator (SDA)
• Professional Clear Administrative Services Credential
• Professional Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential : Health Science
• Learning Disabilities, Emotionally Handicapped, General Special Education
• Nursery, Kindergarten, Grades 1-6
• Health and special classes of the orthopedically and similarly handicapped
• Teacher of children with special learning handicaps

View Dr. Schwartzberg's Consultant Profile.