Criminal Law Commons^™

Models And Limits Of Federal Rule Of Evidence 609 Reform, Anna Roberts

Vanderbilt Law Review

A Symposium focusing on Reimagining the Rules of Evidence at 50 makes one turn to the federal rule that governs one's designated topic--prior conviction impeachment--and think about how that rule could be altered. Part I of this Article does just that, drawing inspiration from state models to propose ways in which the multiple criticisms of the existing federal rule might be addressed. But recent scholarship by Alice Ristroph, focusing on ways in which criminal law scholars talk to their students about "the rules," gives one pause. Ristroph identifies a pedagogical tendency to erase the many humans who turn rules into …

A New Baseline For Character Evidence, Julia Simon-Kerr -- Professor Of Law

Vanderbilt Law Review

Perhaps no rules of evidence are as contested as the rules governing character evidence. To ward off the danger of a fact finder's mistaking evidence of character for evidence of action, the rules exclude much contextual information about the people at the center of the proceeding. This prohibition on character propensity evidence is a bedrock principle of American law. Yet despite its centrality, it is uncertain of both content and application. Contributing to this uncertainty is a definitional lacuna. Although a logical first question in thinking about character evidence is how to define it, the Federal Rules of Evidence have …

Life After Death Row: Preventing Wrongful Capital Convictions And Restoring Innocence After Exoneration, Jean C. Blackerby

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court overturned its ruling in Furman v. Georgia and held that the death penalty, as administered by the states, was not per se "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the Eighth Amendment.' Yet errors continue to occur at an alarming rate in the capital punishment system-over one hundred death row inmates have been released pursuant to evidence of actual innocence since 1973. Indeed, the number of death row exonerations has been steadily increasing in recent years.

Of those exonerations, DNA testing played a substantial role in twelve. Many more have benefited from the …

Stretching The "Terry" Doctrine To The Search For Evidence Of Crime: Canine Sniffs, State Constitutions, And The Reasonable Suspicion Standard, Kenneth L. Pollack

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Fourth Amendment, protects an individual's interest in freedom from unreasonable government intrusions into personal privacy. When a court finds an investigative technique to be a search within the Amendment's meaning, it effectively concludes that Fourth Amendment protection should apply. If the government activity constitutes a search, that activity must be reasonable. If the activity does not amount to a search, however, the government enjoys virtual freedom to conduct that activity as unreasonably as it pleases. For pure investigatory searches, the United States Supreme Court has found that the probable cause requirement strikes the proper balance in defining reasonableness. Unlike …

Criminal Discovery, Scientific Evidence, And Dna, Paul C. Giannelli

Vanderbilt Law Review

"At bottom the case against Claus von Bilow was a scientific case. It would have to be refuted by scientific evidence,"' wrote Alan Dershowitz. The von Bilow case is not alone. Many recent notorious criminal trials involved scientific proof. For example, the prosecution offered hypnotically refreshed testimony and bite mark evidence in the Ted Bundy case. Fiber evidence proved critical in the trial of Wayne Williams for the murder of two of the thirty young black males killed in Atlanta in the late 1970s.' Other illustrations include the pathology and serology testimony in the Jean Harris trial, the forensic analysis …

The Acquisition Of Evidence For Criminal Prosecution: Some Constitutional Premises And Practices In Transition, H. Richard Uviller

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article isolates only two of the many aspects of the Court's labors affecting the acquisition of evidence for criminal prosecution. The first concerns the allocation of primacy among the values that the exclusionary response to the illegal acquisition of evidence serves: a theoretical choice that may carry some notable practical consequences. The second requires are examination of the role of the trial court in supervising the preaccusatory search for evidence in a way that suggests the possible obsolescence of the Supreme Court's ruling credo in the Stewart era.

The Expert As Educator: A Proposed Approach To The Use Of Battered Woman Syndrome Expert Testimony, Meredith B. Cross

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Recent Development proposes that courts should permit the use of battered woman syndrome expert testimony, but restrict its use to informing juries of the peculiar mental and emotional state of battered women. This role of the expert as educator would serve to dispel a jury's misconceptions about battered women and, at the same time, draw the focus of the testimony away from the implication which troubled the Buhrle court--that the battered woman syndrome represents a new defense to murder.The Advisory Committee explains in a note that rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence suggests the use of expert …

Diminished Capacity-Recent Decisions And An Analytical Approach, Robert P. Bryant, Corbin B. Hume

Vanderbilt Law Review

The concept of diminished capacity allows a defendant in a criminal case to prove, usually by presenting psychiatrists who testify that he suffered from an abnormal mental condition, that he was unable to entertain the particular mens rea required for conviction.' Although courts historically have been reluctant to admit such testimony, in recent years a growing number of jurisdictions have recognized the concept of diminished capacity. Recent decisions in Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and North Carolina, as well as recently adopted statutes in ten other jurisdictions,illustrate the evidentiary, social, and constitutional issues raised by the concept of diminished capacity. …

The Dilemma Of The Directed Acquittal, Richard H. Winningham

Vanderbilt Law Review

Some of the worst abuses of state criminal due process, the author believes, result from anachronistic and artificial restraints which prevent the trial judge from directing acquittals. Therefore,he advocates for all states a uniform policy and practice recognizing and authorizing directed acquittals where the evidence is legally insufficient to support a conviction.

The Theory Of Criminal Discovery And The Practice Of Criminal Law, David W. Louisell

Vanderbilt Law Review

To crystallize in a few words the motif of a career as varied and comprehensive as that of Eddie Morgan would in any event be difficult, but it is doubly so for a life devoted, as his has been, to stuff as vital and dynamic as procedure and evidence. For me, his work most fundamentally is to be characterized as a quest for greater rationality in the adjudicative process. Whether one thinks of his analysis of the hearsay rule,' or his rationale of the admissions exception to it, or his treatment of the dead man's statute, or his study of …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases:

CONTRACTS--CONFLICT OF INTERESTS--GOVERNMENT EXPERT'S PRINCIPAL EMPLOYMENT INSUFFICIENT TO VOID CONTRACT ON GROUNDS OF PUBLIC POLICY

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CRIMINAL LAW-ATTEMPT-CONVICTION OF ATTEMPT TO RECEIVE PROPERTY NOT IN FACT STOLEN

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DOMESTIC RELATIONS-UNIFORM RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ACT--RELIEF FROM-EXTRADITION UPON PETITION OF THE OBLIGOR

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EVIDENCE-ADMISSIONS--GUILTY PLEA TO TRAFFIC LAW VIOLATION INADMISSIBLE IN SUBSEQUENT CIVIL SUIT

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FEDERAL JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE--DIVERSITY JURISDICTION--ABSTENTION BY FEDERAL COURT FROM THE EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION IN DIVERSITY CASE

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LABOR LAW--LABOR--MANAGEMENT RELATIONS ACT-STATE COURT PRE-EMPTED FROM ENFORCING GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

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PROFESSION OF LAW--BAR ASSOCIATION MAY NOT DISCIPLINE AN ATTORNEY FOR CONDUCT AS …

Criminal Law And Procedure -- 1958 Tennessee Survey, Charles H. Miller

Vanderbilt Law Review

In surveying the field of criminal law and procedure the cases presented to the supreme court during the year were little more than normal or typical. Several of the criminal cases are not presented in detail in this article, as they are dealt with in other survey sections.

Variable Verbalistics -- The Measure Of Persuasion In Tennessee, Kenneth L. Roberts, William M. Sinrich

Vanderbilt Law Review

In a trial one party always has the affirmative burden of persuading the finder of fact to adopt his allegations as true. This burden is met by inducing a particular degree of belief in the mind of the fact finder.'Manifestly, absolute truth is not attainable in a lawsuit. Rather certain facts are found to exist from all the evidence presented and these findings labeled true for the purposes of the case. Since different factual situations require different measures of persuasion, it is necessary that the fact finder, whether judge or jury, know and understand the particular measure applicable in order …

Book Reviews, Ronan E. Degnan (Reviewer), James J. Lenoir (Reviewer), David H. Vernon (Reviewer), David W. Louisell (Reviewer), David Maxwell (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Reviews:

Cases and Materials on Evidence, Fourth Edition. By Morgan, Maguide & Weinstein Brooklyn: Foundation Press, 1957. Pp. xxiv,880. $11.00

reviewers: Ronan E. Degnan and David W. Louisell

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Estate Planning and Taxation Two volumes. By William J. Bowe Buffalo: Dennis & Company, Inc., 1957. Vol. I, pp. lvi, 590; Vol. II,pp. viii, 614.

reviewer: James J. Lenoir

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The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law By Glanville Williams. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1957. Pp. xi, 350. $5.00.

reviewer: David H. Vernon

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Current Legal Problems Edited by G. W. Keeton & G. Schwarzenberger London: Stevens & …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Automobiles--Owner's Liability Statutes--Application to the Master-Servant Relationship

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Bankruptcy--Discharge--Failure of Creditor to Inform Bankruptcy Court of Bankrupt's Fraud in Procuring Loan

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Bills and Notes--Demand Instruments--Time When Statute of Limitations Begins to Run

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Bills and Notes--Holder in Due Course--Giving a Check in Exchange for Another Negotiable Instrument is not the Giving of Value When the Check Turns Out to be Worthless

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Constitutional Law--Due Process of Law--Use of Perjured Testimony and Suppression of Material Evidence Favorable to Accused in State Criminal Proceedings

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Constitutional Law--Equal Protection of the Laws--Executory Interest Conditioned upon Racial Restriction on Use of Land

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Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Constitutional Law--Congressional Investigations --Relevancy of Required Testimony

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Constitutional Law--State Taxation of Interstate Commerce--Sales Taxation of Income from Trans-Shipment of Goods within State

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Criminal Law--Felony Murder Doctrine--Co-Felon Killed by Victim of Crime

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Evidence--Judicial Admissions--Testimony as to Objective Facts

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Federal Tort Claims Act--"Private Individual" Clause--Uniquely Governmental Activity

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Income Taxation--Capital Gains and Losses--Business Purpose for Contracting in Commodity Futures

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Labor Law--Taft-Hartley Act--Discharge of Employees because of Union Membership

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Negligence--High Tension Power Lines--Duty to Warn of Dangerous Condition

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Real Property--Joint Tenancy--Severance of Estate by Murder of Co-Tenant

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Torts--Landowner--Duty to Social Guest

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Wills--Pretermitted Heir Statue--Sole …

Criminal Law And Procedure -- 1955 Tennessee Survey, Austin W. Scott Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Homicide: In Ivy v. State' the defendant, in the course of a fight with A, stabbed B, a peacemaker, killing him. The defendant appealed his conviction of involuntary manslaughter on the theory that the evidence did not support the verdict, since it showed that the defendant was striking at A in self-defense when he unfortunately stabbed B. The court held that the jury could properly find on the evidence either that (1) the defendant, not A, was the aggressor, or (2) even if A were the aggressor, defendant was not in imminent danger or reasonably supposed danger of death or …

Criminal Law And Procedure -- 1954 Tennessee Survey, Clyde L. Ball

Vanderbilt Law Review

Most of the criminal law cases in the Tennessee courts during the past year have dealt with matters of procedure. The basic principles derived from these cases are treated in the Procedure and Evidence article of this 1954 Survey.' However, those cases of especial interest and significance will be considered here in somewhat greater detail. In addition to procedural matters there were a few cases which turned on concepts basic in the substantive law of crimes.

Substantive Law

Homicide: Tennessee has enunciated and followed a rule which states that driving an automobile while intoxicated is an act malum in se, …

Some Developments In The Law Concerning Confessions, William Wicker

Vanderbilt Law Review

Our system of administering criminal laws is predicated upon accusatorial rather than inquisitorial proceedings. To maintain inviolate the safeguards consonant with this principle, we have placed upon the State an ever-increasing burden in proving the commission of the crime charged. That this burden has begun to weigh heavily, and perhaps onerously, becomes unmistakably evident from a study of recent developments in the law of confessions.

Admissibility In Criminal Prosecutions Of Proof Of Other Offenses As Substantive Evidence, Clinton J. Morgan

Vanderbilt Law Review

"The general rule has been well established that on prosecution for a particular crime evidence which in any manner shows or tends to show that the accused has committed another crime wholly independent of that for which he is on trial, even though it be a crime of the same character, is irrelevant and inadmissible." This statement by the Tennessee court announces the basic rule regarding the matter of proof of other crimes as substantive evidence--a rule which is quoted and adhered to in virtually every American jurisdiction. The evidence is not excluded because it has no probative value, but …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Automobiles--Family Purpose Doctrine--Automobile Owned by other than Head of Family

Contracts--Effect of Illegality--Recover Where No Moral Turpitude involved and Purpose of Statute Not Violated

Corporations--Liability of Officer to Creditors for Excessive Salary--Burden of Proof on Defendant to Show Reasonableness

Criminal Law--Proximate Cause--Responsibility for Death Due to Acts of Persons Opposing a Felony

Criminal Law--Violation of the Mann Act--Actual Transportation Entirely within a Single State

Evidence--Confidential Communications between Spouses--Admissibility of Testimony as to Conduct of Party Spouse

Insurance--Commercial--Radius Endorsement in Automobile Insurance--Effect of Breach after Return to Designated Area

Personal Property--Finding Lost Goods--Chambermaid's Right to Goods Found by Her …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Assault and Battery--Injury Sustained in Prize Fig

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Constitutional Law--Elections--Voting Rights of Residents of Federal Enclave where Polling Places are on Land under Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction

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Constitutional Law--Miscegenation Statutes--Statutory Prohibitions against Inter-Racial Marriages held Unconstitutional

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Criminal Law--Evidence--Admissibility of Sound Motion Pictures of Re-Enactment of Crime by Defendants

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Criminal Procedure--Use of Jury Primer Prior to Trial

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Estate Planning--Mistake as to Tax Consequences of a Gift--Requirements for Rescission

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Evidence--Impeachment of Witnesses--Warning Question on Examination as to Prior Testimony

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Interstate Commerce--Sherman Act--Applicability to Organized Baseball

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Labor Law--Constitutional Law--Validity of Prohibition on Contributions and Expenditures of Labor …