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Full-Text Articles in Law

Confronting The Reluctant Accomplice, John G. Douglass Jan 2001

Confronting The Reluctant Accomplice, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court treats the Confrontation Clause as a rule of evidence that excludes unreliable hearsay. But where the hearsay declarant is an accomplice who refuses to testify at defendant's trial, the Court's approach leads prosecutors and defendants to ignore real opportunities for confrontation, while they debate the reliability of hearsay. And even where the Court's doctrine excludes hearsay, it leads prosecutors to purchase the accomplice's testimony through a process that raises equally serious questions of reliability. Thus, the Court's approach promotes neither reliability nor confrontation. This Article advocates an approach that applies the Confrontation Clause to hearsay declarants in …


Balancing Hearsay And Criminal Discovery, John G. Douglass Jan 2000

Balancing Hearsay And Criminal Discovery, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

and prosecutors. Part I of this Article argues that the conventional theory of hearsaydiscovery balance does not reflect the reality of modem federal practice. An imbalance has arisen because, in the last quarter century, developments in the law of evidence and confrontation are at odds with developments-or one might say nondevelopments-in the law of criminal discovery. Since enactment of the Federal Rules of Evidence in 1975, both the law of evidence and modem Confrontation Clause doctrine have evolved toward broader admission of hearsay in criminal cases. Contrary to conventional theory, that evolution has at least matched-and probably has outpaced-the trend …


Beyond Admissibility: Real Confrontation, Virtual Cross-Examination And The Right To Confront Hearsay, John G. Douglass Jan 1999

Beyond Admissibility: Real Confrontation, Virtual Cross-Examination And The Right To Confront Hearsay, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this Article describes how the Court turned the Confrontation Clause into a rule excluding unreliable hearsay, culminating in the 1980 decision in Ohio v. Roberts, in which the Court set out the "general approach" that dominates confrontation-hearsay analysis today. Part II assesses the application of the Court's exclusionary rule in the two decades since Roberts, a period during which the Confrontation Clause largely has merged with, and disappeared into, the law of evidence, in the process losing its significance as an independent protection for the accused in an adversarial system. Part III argues that the Court's choice …


The Breard Case And The Virtues Of Forbearance, John G. Douglass Jan 1998

The Breard Case And The Virtues Of Forbearance, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

At a time when the scheduled execution of Angel Francisco Breard made Virginia the focus of a groundbreaking controversy over the reach of internationallaw into the domestic criminal process of the United States, law students and faculty at the University of Richmond had the unique opportunity to consider the case along with Philippe Sands, then a Visiting Allen Chair Professor at the University.


How Much Should Mind Matter? Mens Rea In Theft And Fraud Sentencing, James Gibson Nov 1997

How Much Should Mind Matter? Mens Rea In Theft And Fraud Sentencing, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s vote to potentially revise the definition of loss. Anyone who has followed the Commission's deliberations on loss will see that the proposed definition attempts to address many of the contentious issues that have arisen in the case law and commentary. The issues that the proposed definition concentrates on, however, such as credits, interest, causation, and gain, tend to inform the inquiry into "actual loss" rather than "intended loss," even though the latter concept is integral to both definitions. Although neither the current nor the proposed definition provides much guidance for working with intended …


The Right Of The People To Be Secure, Ronald J. Bacigal Jan 1993

The Right Of The People To Be Secure, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this Article defines searches and seizures of property and person, discussing the Supreme Court's initially broad interpretation of the Fourth Amendment and its subsequent narrowing in later decisions. Part II discusses several police "chase cases" leading up to the elimination of accidental and attempted seizures from Fourth Amendment protection in Brower v. County of Inyo and California v. Hodari D. Part Ill analyzes the Brower decision and its effect on accidental seizures, concluding that the analysis set forth therein should be abolished and advocating an alternate test. Part IV confronts the Court's elimination of attempted seizures from …


When Racists And Radicals Meet, Ronald J. Bacigal, Margaret Ivey Bacigal Jan 1989

When Racists And Radicals Meet, Ronald J. Bacigal, Margaret Ivey Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

In order to stimulate scholarly discussion, this Essay presents an empirical account of the Greensboro incident from the perspective of those who participated in the episode and in the resulting civil rights trial. The Essay traces the circumstances leading to the violence and reviews the resultant litigation with special attention given to the role of the trial judge in politically volatile cases. The candid reflections offered by the trial judge and other participants allow the reader to examine both the event and the litigation, not merely in the abstract, but as implemented by flesh-andblood lawyers, litigants, and judges. .


Criminal Procedure, Ronald J. Bacigal Jul 1987

Criminal Procedure, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

This article summarizes significant legislative changes, decisions of the United States and Virginia Supreme Courts, and decisions of the Virginia Court of Appeals. A more extensive consideration of this material as well as recent decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and federal district courts is contained in R. Bacigal, Virginia Criminal Procedure (Supp. 1987).


Annual Survey Of Virginia Law - Civil Procedure And Practice, William Hamilton Bryson Jan 1987

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law - Civil Procedure And Practice, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

This article considers recent developments in the field of Virginia civil procedure and practice, including statutes, rules of court, and opinions of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia that have appeared between May 1986 and May 1987. This article also comments on cases in volumes five through eight of Virginia Circuit Court Opinions, many of which were decided before 1986. It is appropriate to mention them here since they were only recently made generally available through publication. In order to facilitate the discussion of numerous Virginia Code sections, they will be referred to in …


Criminal Procedure, Ronald J. Bacigal Jul 1985

Criminal Procedure, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

This survey addresses only significant Virginia cases and statutes affecting Virginia criminal procedure. For discussion of the impact of federal court decisions, see R. Bacigal, Virginia Criminal Procedure (Supp. 1985).


Post-Whalen Double Jeopardy In Virginia, Ronald J. Bacigal Jan 1982

Post-Whalen Double Jeopardy In Virginia, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

The constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy serves three distinct purposes: (1) prohibition of a second prosecution after acquittal; (2) prohibition of a second prosecution after conviction; and (3) prohibition of multiple punishments for the same offense. This article addresses the problem of defining "the same offense," and specifically focuses on the application of the Blockburger test in light of Whalen v. United States.


A Case For Jury Determination Of Search And Seizure Law, Ronald J. Bacigal Jan 1981

A Case For Jury Determination Of Search And Seizure Law, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

In a criminal case the option to return a general verdict of acquittal invests the jury with the raw power to nullify many legal determinations, including the trial judge's ruling that a search is constitutional. While courts grudingly acknowledge the existence of an extra-legal jury nullification power, courts do not recognize any jury prerogative to determine the lawfulness of a search. The United States Supreme Court's discussion of the jury's role in interpreting and applying the fourth amendment consists of one terse statement that the legality of a search "is a question of fact and law for the court and …


Notice In Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings, Adrienne Volenik Jan 1975

Notice In Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings, Adrienne Volenik

Law Faculty Publications

Despite these suggestions, the problem of what constitutes adequate notice continues to plague juvenile courts. Furthermore, by suggesting two criminal and two civil cases as examples, the Court added the issue of whether a civil or a criminal standard for notice should be applied. Courts that have addressed this issue have reached different conclusions.


Criminal Law And Procedure Eleventh Survey Of Florida Law - Part Four, David Frisch Jan 1974

Criminal Law And Procedure Eleventh Survey Of Florida Law - Part Four, David Frisch

Law Faculty Publications

This survey is a continuation of previous articles on the topic of Florida criminal law and procedure.