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Full-Text Articles in Evidence

Ehearsay, Jeffrey Bellin Sep 2019

Ehearsay, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

No abstract provided.


The Significance (If Any) For The Federal Criminal Justice System Of Advances In Lie Detector Technology, Jeffrey Bellin Sep 2019

The Significance (If Any) For The Federal Criminal Justice System Of Advances In Lie Detector Technology, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

Against a backdrop of accelerating developments in the science of lie detection certain to reopen the debate on the reliability and therefore admissibility of lie detector evidence in the federal courts, this Article examines whether the prohibition on hearsay evidence (or other evidentiary objections) will preclude admissibility of even scientifically reliable lie detector evidence. The Article concludes that the hearsay prohibition, which has been largely ignored by courts and commentators, is the primary obstacle to the future admission of scientifically valid lie detector evidence. The Article also suggests a potential solution to the hearsay problem that may allow admission of …


The Case For Ehearsay, Jeffrey Bellin Sep 2019

The Case For Ehearsay, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

No abstract provided.


Text Messages And The Hearsay Rule In The Aaron Hernandez Case, Jeffrey Bellin Sep 2019

Text Messages And The Hearsay Rule In The Aaron Hernandez Case, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

No abstract provided.


Policing The Admissibility Of Body Camera Evidence, Jeffrey Bellin, Shevarma Pemberton Sep 2019

Policing The Admissibility Of Body Camera Evidence, Jeffrey Bellin, Shevarma Pemberton

Jeffrey Bellin

Body cameras are sweeping the nation and becoming, along with the badge and gun, standard issue for police officers. These cameras are intended to ensure accountability for abusive police officers. But, if history is any guide, the videos they produce will more commonly be used to prosecute civilians than to document abuse. Further, knowing that the footage will be available as evidence, police officers have an incentive to narrate body camera videos with descriptive oral statements that support a later prosecution. Captured on an official record that exclusively documents the police officer’s perspective, these statements—for example, “he just threw something …


More On The Future Of Present Sense Impressions, Jeffrey Bellin Sep 2019

More On The Future Of Present Sense Impressions, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

No abstract provided.


Facebook, Twitter, And The Uncertain Future Of Present Sense Impressions, Jeffrey Bellin Sep 2019

Facebook, Twitter, And The Uncertain Future Of Present Sense Impressions, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

The intricate legal framework governing the admission of out-of-court statements in American trials is premised on increasingly outdated communication norms. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the hearsay exception for “present sense impressions.” Changing communication practices typified by interactions on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter herald the arrival of a previously uncontemplated—and uniquely unreliable—breed of present sense impressions. This Article contends that the indiscriminate admission of these electronic present sense impressions (e-PSIs) is both normatively undesirable and inconsistent with the traditional rationale for the present sense impression exception. It proposes a reform to the exception that would …


Policing The Admissibility Of Body Camera Evidence, Jeffrey Bellin, Shevarma Pemberton Mar 2019

Policing The Admissibility Of Body Camera Evidence, Jeffrey Bellin, Shevarma Pemberton

Faculty Publications

Body cameras are sweeping the nation and becoming, along with the badge and gun, standard issue for police officers. These cameras are intended to ensure accountability for abusive police officers. But, if history is any guide, the videos they produce will more commonly be used to prosecute civilians than to document abuse. Further, knowing that the footage will be available as evidence, police officers have an incentive to narrate body camera videos with descriptive oral statements that support a later prosecution. Captured on an official record that exclusively documents the police officer’s perspective, these statements—for example, “he just threw something …