October 2, 2008

Production of "Design of Life"

On page 10 of his Expert Witness Report, William Dembski cited the unpublished manuscript of The Design of Life, a "third edition" of Of Pandas and People, in support of his claim to expertise in the case. Any materials cited in an expert report must be produced to the other side if requested, and the Plaintiffs requested the manuscript. However, Dembski and the FTE refused, and the Defense filed a motion for a protective order on various grounds, including a claim that they did not want the book subjected to early critique from NCSE. This argument was weakened by the fact that Dembski had posted several chapters of "The Design of Life" on his public website in 2004. The Judge ordered that the book be produced but kept confidential. As Dembski later withdrew from the case, the book ceased to become important, but one chapter (chapter 6, on fossils) was introduced in court during the Behe-cross examination.

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