Law Commons^™

Conference On Best Practices For Managing Daubert Questions, Edward K. Cheng, D. J. Capra, Et Al

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

When we are talking about overstatement, is it so apparent that surely the jury could understand that? Or that on cross at trial, would the opposing counsel make that apparent so that the jury would deal with it on its own? Or is it overstatement, in ways that you normally see, in that it becomes opaque and therefore misleading to the jury and the jury would never be able to figure it out?

Unraveling Williams V. Illinois, Edward K. Cheng, Cara C. Mannion

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Essay addresses one of the key evidentiary problems facing courts today: the treatment of forensic reports under the Confrontation Clause. Forensics are a staple of modern criminal trials, yet what restrictions the Confrontation Clause places on forensic reports is entirely unclear. The Supreme Court’s latest decision on the issue, Williams v. Illinois, sowed widespread confusion among lower courts and commentators, and during the 2018 Term, Justices Gorsuch and Kagan dissented to the denial of certiorari in Stuart v. Alabama, a case that would have revisited (and hopefully clarified) Williams.

Our Essay dispels the confusion in Williams v. Illinois. …