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Evidence

University of Michigan Law School

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

2004

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Standard Of Review For Prosecutorial Use Of Race Evidence During Trial, Peter Chung Oct 2004

Standard Of Review For Prosecutorial Use Of Race Evidence During Trial, Peter Chung

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that unfettered use of cultural evidence by prosecutors creates the same problems as would the use of evidence of race to show propensity of the accused to act. Using Wisconsin v. Chu as a case study, the author demonstrates that cultural evidence, just as any other evidence to show propensity to act, must rest upon the proper evidentiary foundation and that prosecutors must be sharply constrained in their use of cultural evidence.


Judges As Film Critics: New Approaches To Filmic Evidence, Jessica M. Silbey Jan 2004

Judges As Film Critics: New Approaches To Filmic Evidence, Jessica M. Silbey

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article exposes internal contradictions in case law concerning the use and admissibility of film as evidence. Based on a review of more than ninety state and federal cases dating from 1923 to the present, the Article explains how the source of these contradictions is the frequent miscategorization of film as "demonstrative evidence, "evidence that purports to illustrate other evidence, rather than to be directly probative of some fact at issue. The Article further demonstrates how these contradictions are based on two venerable jurisprudential anxieties. One is the concern about the growing trend toward replacing the traditional testimony of live …