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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Perils Of Courtroom Stories, Stephan Landsman
The Perils Of Courtroom Stories, Stephan Landsman
Michigan Law Review
As Janet Malcolm1 tells it, Sheila McGough was a middle-aged single woman living at home with her parents and working as an editor and administrator in the publications department of the Carnegie Institute when she decided to switch careers and go to law school. She applied and was admitted to the then recently accredited law school at George Mason University. After graduation, she began a solo practice in northern Virginia that involved a significant amount of stateappointed criminal defense work. In 1986, approximately four years after her graduation from law school, McGough received a call requesting assistance from an incarcerated …
Workmen's Compensation - Federal Employers' Liability Act - Basis Of Liability Not Common Law Negligence, Robert L. Knauss S.Ed.
Workmen's Compensation - Federal Employers' Liability Act - Basis Of Liability Not Common Law Negligence, Robert L. Knauss S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Petitioner, a laborer in a railroad section gang, was assigned to burn weeds near a railroad track. He was injured when he fell into a culvert as he was trying to escape from smoke and flames which had been fanned by a passing train. A jury in the Circuit Court of St. Louis awarded damages under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA). The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed upon the ground that the evidence was not sufficient to support a finding of the railroad's liability, and the case should not have been allowed to go to a jury. On certiorari …
Evidence - Admissibility - Extent To Which Juror's Affidavit May Be Used To Impeach Verdict, Herbert R. Brown S.Ed.
Evidence - Admissibility - Extent To Which Juror's Affidavit May Be Used To Impeach Verdict, Herbert R. Brown S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and made a motion for a new trial on the basis of a juror's affidavit which asserted that the jury had been divided eight to four in favor of life imprisonment over the death sentence, that subsequently several jurors introduced into the deliberations the fact that the defendant had been charged, in another indictment, with assault with intent to kill, that this became a part of the jury's deliberation, and that, as a result, the jury did not recommend life imprisonment and, instead, the death sentence was imposed. On appeal, held …
Constitutional Law - Due Process - Judicial Review Of Jury Determination On Coerced Character Of Confession, James M. Potter S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Due Process - Judicial Review Of Jury Determination On Coerced Character Of Confession, James M. Potter S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Petitioner, suspected of the murder of his parents, was subjected to intensive police interrogation culminating in a confession to a state-employed psychiatrist. Petitioner had been allowed only a small amount of sleep and was suffering from a sinus condition when he was introduced to the psychiatrist, who was represented as a general practitioner. The questioning of the psychiatrist, who was skilled in hypnosis, was a subtle blend of threats and promises of leniency. Within the next three and one-half hours petitioner also confessed to a police captain, a business associate, and two assistant state prosecutors. The confession to the psychiatrist …
Practice And Procedure-Trial Practice-Juror Affidavits, Paul M.D. Harrison S. Ed.
Practice And Procedure-Trial Practice-Juror Affidavits, Paul M.D. Harrison S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The jury, in an action for trespass, returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and thereafter separated after being dismissed by the court. Subsequently, a juror reported to the court that the verdict as returned did not express the actual agreement of the jury. Five days after dismissal the jury was recalled and, upon being polled, unanimously agreed that the verdict as returned did not represent the actual agreement of the jury due to an error in computation. The jury was sent back to the jury room under instructions to refigure the verdict only upon evidence already presented in …
Evidence-Two Witnesses Rule In Action For Perjury, Milton D. Solomon S.Ed.
Evidence-Two Witnesses Rule In Action For Perjury, Milton D. Solomon S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The petitioner was convicted of perjury. The trial judge refused to give the following instruction to the jury: "The government must establish the falsity of the statement alleged to have been made by the defendant under oath, by the testimony of two independent witnesses or one witness and corroborating circumstances. Unless that has been done, you must find the defendant not guilty." The petitioner was convicted and the circuit court of appeals affirmed the district court. Held, the refusal of the district judge to instruct the jury as requested was reversible error. Weiler v. United States, (U.S. 1945) …
Evidence - Photographs - Admission To Show Physical Condition Of Person, Michigan Law Review
Evidence - Photographs - Admission To Show Physical Condition Of Person, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff's daughter was killed by the wrongful act of defendant. In a suit to recover for pecuniary injury through loss of financial aid, a photograph of decedent (a pretty girl) was introduced and admitted over objections of defendant that the photograph could serve no purpose relative to the issues, but would excite the sympathy of the jury to the prejudice of the defendant. Held, that no error was committed in admitting the photograph since the decedent's probable contributions for the benefit of her parents depended largely upon "the kind of a girl she was" and the photograph was some …
Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review
Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Admiralty - Workmen's Compensation - Is a Hydroplane a Vessel? - Claimant was employed in the care and management of a hydroplane which was moored in navigable waters. The hydroplane began to drag anchor and drift toward the beach, where it was in danger of being wrecked. Claimant waded into the water and was struck by the propeller. Held, claimant is not entitled to compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Law, since a hydroplane while on navigable waters is a vessel, and therefore the jurisdiction of the admiralty excludes that of the State Industrial Commission. Reinhardt v. Newport Flying Service Corp. …