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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
Rapt Admissions: Comparing Proposed Federal Rule Of Evidence 416 “Rap Shield” With The Rule 412 “Rape Shield”, Patience Tyne
Rapt Admissions: Comparing Proposed Federal Rule Of Evidence 416 “Rap Shield” With The Rule 412 “Rape Shield”, Patience Tyne
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law
Creative expression depicting illicit activity can cause jurors to infer improper conclusions about a defendant, even when the jurors attempt to analyze such evidence objectively. When the government seeks to admit a defendant’s creative work into evidence in a criminal trial, courts use existing evidentiary rules to balance the work’s probative value against its risk of unfair prejudice. These rules are supposed to prevent unfair prejudice, but various scholars have shown that courts do not always appreciate how unfairly prejudicial art can be. Rap music presents unique challenges because jurors may fail to discern the work’s literal versus symbolic meaning. …
The Price Of Silence: How The Griffin Roadblock And Protection Against Adverse Inference Condemn The Criminal Defendant, Kelsey Craig
The Price Of Silence: How The Griffin Roadblock And Protection Against Adverse Inference Condemn The Criminal Defendant, Kelsey Craig
Vanderbilt Law Review
In 1965, the Supreme Court held in Griffin v. California that the Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination prohibits judges and prosecutors from pointing to a defendant's failure to testify as substantive evidence of guilt. This doctrine assumes that such a prosecutorial or judicial "adverse comment" compels a negative inference-that the defendant is hiding something. The Griffin Court held that this assumption amounts to an unfair penalty on a defendant's invocation of a constitutionally protected right. This doctrine, however, makes a dangerous misstep in additionally assuming that the prohibition of adverse comment and the administration of limiting instructions curtail a …