Evidence Commons^™

Federal Rule Of Evidence 608(B): A Proposed Revision, Janeen Kerper, Bruce E. Macdonald

Akron Law Review

It is the thesis of this article that under the federal rules there are basically only two limitations on the use of extrinsic evidence to attack the credibility of a witness.

First, the basic rules of relevance and considerations of judicial efficiency give the judge discretion to exclude evidence of irrelevant or "collateral" matters under Federal Rule of Evidence 401 and 403. Second, Rule 608(b) limits the use of extrinsic evidence of specific acts tending to show that the witness has the character of a liar or a truthteller. The first of these limitations is discretionary while the second is …

Evidentiary Use Of Prior Acquittals: When Analysis Exceeds Reality, Paul Harper

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this note is to assess the basis and propriety of that decision and to highlight some potential problems with the Court's conclusion. Additionally, this casenote will attempt to envision how this holding may affect future prosecutions.

Finally it will offer an alternative model which may more adequately address the tension between the government's legitimate prosecutorial interests and the defendant's interest in finality of judgment.

Can Post-Chicago Economics Survive Daubert?, Malcolm B. Coate, Jeffrey H. Fischer

Akron Law Review

In Section II of this Article, we review the Supreme Court’s standard for allowing expert testimony as explained in Daubert and related opinions, and discuss in detail the City of Tuscaloosa and Concord Boat decisions that, following Daubert, excluded the economic expert testimony on which the plaintiffs relied. Section III presents an overview of the Chicago School of Economics, which sets a foundation for our commentary on the Post-Chicago school and serves as a basis for the evaluation of Chicago-based testimony in Section V. Section IV discusses the Post-Chicago School approach to antitrust analysis as a refinement of the Chicago …

Judicial Notice And The Law's "Scientific" Search For Truth, Christopher Onstott

Akron Law Review

Part I of this Article begins by introducing the concept of judicial notice followed by a short background defining the scope of scientific and technical principles. Part II addresses the problems created by the current judicial notice standard. The standard’s text is problematic, and courts’ diverse interpretations of the standard have also created problems. Part III analyzes whether scientific and technical principles merit a different judicial notice standard specifically for them. This Part concludes that the inherent inconsistency of science and technical knowledge with the current standard and the judicial shortcomings in scientific/technical competence justify different legal treatment. Finally, Part …