Law Commons^™

Every Juror Wants A Story: Narrative Relevance, Third Party Guilt And The Right To Present A Defense, John H. Blume, Sheri L. Johnson, Emily C. Paavola

Sheri Lynn Johnson

On occasion, criminal defendants hope to convince a jury that the state has not met its burden of proving them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by offering evidence that someone else (a third party) committed the crime. Currently, state and federal courts assess the admissibility of evidence of third-party guilt using a variety of standards. In general, however, there are two basic approaches. Many state courts require a defendant to proffer evidence of some sort of direct link or connection between a specific third-party and the crime. A second group of state courts, as well as federal courts, admit evidence …

"Whodunit" Versus "What Was Done": When To Admit Character Evidence In Criminal Cases, Sherry Colb

Sherry Colb

In virtually every jurisdiction in the United States, the law of evidence prohibits parties from offering proof of an individual's general character traits to suggest that, on a specific occasion, the individual behaved in a manner consistent with those traits. In a criminal trial in particular, the law prohibits a prosecutor's introduction of evidence about the defendant's character as proof of his guilt. In this Article, Professor Colb proposes that the exclusion of defendant character evidence is appropriate in one category of cases but inappropriate in another. In the first category, which Professor Colb calls "whodunit" cases, the parties agree …

Every Juror Wants A Story: Narrative Relevance, Third Party Guilt And The Right To Present A Defense, John H. Blume, Sheri L. Johnson, Emily C. Paavola

John H. Blume

On occasion, criminal defendants hope to convince a jury that the state has not met its burden of proving them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by offering evidence that someone else (a third party) committed the crime. Currently, state and federal courts assess the admissibility of evidence of third-party guilt using a variety of standards. In general, however, there are two basic approaches. Many state courts require a defendant to proffer evidence of some sort of direct link or connection between a specific third-party and the crime. A second group of state courts, as well as federal courts, admit evidence …

Effect Of Bribery In International Commercial Arbitration, Harshad Pathak, Pratyush Panjwani, Divya Srinivasan, Punya Varma

Harshad Pathak

The issue of bribery in international commercial arbitration throws up complex issues throughout the proceedings. The given paper addresses the three procedural concerns associated with claims tainted by bribery – arbitrability, admissibility, and investigative powers of arbitral tribunal. Regarding arbitrability, it is amply clear that claims tainted by bribery are no longer non-arbitrable in nature. However, an arbitral tribunal ought to proceed to the merits of the dispute only in the circumstance that such claims are found to be admissible before the tribunal. With respect to admissibility of such claims, the authors suggest that if bribery is shown to exist, …

Beyond Resqnet: Clarifying The Standard For The Use Of Patent Settlements, Tejas N. Narechania, Jackson Taylor Kirklin

Tejas N. Narechania