Law Commons^™

Telling Tales In Court: Trial Procedure And The Story Model, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

There are three ways in which stories may figure prominently at trials. First, litigants may tell stories to jurors. Not only is there some social science evidence that this happens, but trial lawyers have an instinctive sense that this is what they do. Ask a litigator to describe a current case and she is likely to reply, "Our story is ... " Second, jurors may try to make sense of the evidence they receive by fitting it to some story pattern. If so, the process is likely to feed back on itself. That is, jurors are likely to build a …

Some Caveats Concerning Dna As Criminal Identification Evidence: With Thanks To The Reverend Bayes, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

The conference panel at which this paper was originally presented was structured along the lines of a debate. The three speakers who were supposed to advocate the use of DNA evidence were labeled, as is customary, Proponents. But those who were supposed to take the negative side were not called Opponents. Rather they were labeled Caveators. I do not know who is responsible for this label, but I think it gets things exactly right. To my mind anyone considering DNA as criminal identification evidence should be a Caveator. The promise and utility of DNA analysis in identifying the perpetrators of …

The New Criminal Discovery Code In Oklahoma: A Two Way Street In The Wrong Direction, Rodney J. Uphoff

Faculty Publications

This article first examines criminal discovery in Oklahoma prior to the Allen decision. Next, section II of the article explores Allen and the court’s justifications for creating a reciprocal discovery system. The article reviews the Allen procedures and similar pre-trial discovery provisions contained in the American Bar Association’s Standards for Criminal Justice and questions whether Allen’s new discovery system will achieve the desired results. Section II also focuses on the constitutionality of the defendant’s disclosure obligations and the adverse effects of mandating such disclosures on the adversary system. Finally, section III of the article proposes an alternative discovery code based …

The Admissibility Of Hypnotically Enhanced Testimony In Criminal Trials, Gary Shaw

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Should Michigan Rule Of Evidence 703 Be Revised?, Brian Benner, Ronald L. Carlson

Popular Media

Technical witnesses regularly assist the fact-finding process in Michigan trials. Jury or bench trials in federal and state courts routinely feature the appearance of experts. Properly policed by our courts, few forms of testimony hold more promise for advancing the truth-seeking function of American litigation. The expanding presence of experts raises hard questions. Are the Michigan rules in turn with modern needs? Should the state rule controlling the basis for expert opinion be aligned with the federal pattern? If Michigan Rule of Evidence 703 could stand revision, does proper alteration require significant additions not presently contained in either state or …

The American Jury At Twenty-Five Years, Valerie P. Hans, Neil Vidmar

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The year 1991 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Harry Kalven, Jr. and Hans Zeisel's classic work, The American Jury. Arguably one of the most important books in the field of law and social science, this research monograph began the modrn field of jury studies and deeply influenced contemporary understanding of the jury as an institution.

In this essay we assess the book from the vantage point of a quarter- century. First, we provide a historical backdrop by reviewing the activities of the University of Chicago's Jury Project that led to the publication of The American Jury …

Social Science And The Courts: The Role Of Amicus Curiae Briefs, Ronald G. Roesch, Stephen L. Golding, Valerie P. Hans, N. Dickon Reppucci

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Social scientists have increasingly become involved in the submission of amicus curiae or "friend of the court" briefs in legal cases being decided by state and federal courts. This increase has triggered considerable debate about the use of briefs to communicate relevant social science research. This article evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of various methods of summarizing social science research for the courts. It also reviews the procedures for submitting briefs developed by the American Psychology-Law Society which, in collaboration with the American Psychological Association, has submitted its first brief in Maryland v. Craig, a case recently decided by …

Challenging Public Investigative Reports: How To Fight The Hearsay Exception, Steven P. Grossman, Stephen J. Shapiro

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper discusses how attorneys can argue against having government and public reports admitted into evidence at trial that would be damaging to their client. When this paper was done, such reports were admitted via Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8)(C). The authors argue that it is possible to challenge admission of factual findings in public reports despite various court decisions which make this difficult.

Obscured Visions: Policy, Power, And Discretion In Transnational Discovery, David J. Gerber

All Faculty Scholarship

This Essay addresses issues involving the discovery of information located outside the United States. Specifically, it deals with some of the problems created by the lack of appropriate limits on United States discovery procedures. Professor Gerber first analyzes the extent of judicial discretion in the United States in matters concerning extraterritorial discovery. The analysis encompasses the underlying legal bases for the exercise of discretion as well as the political and institutional factors that influence the uses of discretion.

Next, the Essay focuses on the international consequences of the virtually unlimited discretion courts in the United States exercise in discovery matter. …

The Exigent Circumstances Exception To The Warrant Requirement, H. Patrick Furman

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Admissibility Of Dna Evidence, David H. Kaye

Journal Articles

In contrast to the widespread acceptance of red blood cell grouping, blood serum protein and enzyme analysis, and HLA typing, the evidentiary status of forensic applications of recombinant-DNA technology is in flux. A proper evidentiary analysis must attend to the fact that there is no single method of DNA typing. As with the more established genetic tests, the probative value of the laboratory findings depends both on the procedure employed and the genetic characteristics that are discerned. This paper describes some of these procedures and the theory that lies behind them, and then considers the developing case law. Given the …

Credal Probability, David H. Kaye

Journal Articles

This article responds to Paul Bergman and Al Moore's doubt that ideal triers of facts would be Bayesians. They argue that Bayes' rule, and probability theory in general, fails as a theoretical factfinding model. While probability has long been an accepted measure of belief in empirical propositions and the validity of inductive arguments, this articles addresses Bergman and Moore's doubts directly. It shows how their examples demonstrating the "frequentist" character of Bayesian methodology or the fallacies in Bayesian analysis are easily handled without a frequentist interpretation of probability. Then it shows that an ideal juror's partial beliefs will conform to …

Evidence Engendered, Kit Kinports

Journal Articles

Part I of this article briefly describes feminist legal theory and its evolution. Part II then discusses the extent to which evidence as a whole is a gendered topic that reflects predominantly male traits and ideals, and Part III analyzes various specific evidentiary doctrines from a feminist perspective. Finally, Part IV examines way of incorporating feminist theories in teaching an evidence course.

Evidence, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

This article addresses some of the more significant evidence cases decided by the Fifth Circuit during the survey period.' Before turning to the cases themselves, it is important to note at the outset that like other federal courts, the Fifth Circuit is generally not inclined to reverse a case on an evidentiary error. It should not be surprising then that in most of the cases which follow, the court implicitly deferred to the decision of the trial judge in deciding whether a certain piece of evidence was admissible.

Refocusing The New Evidence Scholarship : A Comment On Robert S. Thompson's "Decision, Disciplined Inferences And The Adversary Process", Terence J. Anderson

Articles

No abstract provided.

Evidence Scholarship, Old And New, Roger C. Park

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Procedural Options For Resolving Hearsay Issues, Roger C. Park

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Re-Examining Hearsay Under The Federal Rules: Some Method For The Madness, Paul S. Milich

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Character Impeachment Evidence: Psycho-Bayesian (!?) Analysis And A Proposed Overhaul, Richard D. Friedman

Articles

Typically, arguments for restricting character impeachment evidence are based in part on the premise that prior crimes, at least violent crimes, generally indicate little about a person's veracity. The argument advanced here against character impeachment of criminal defendants does not rely on that premise; in fact, it accepts the premise that prior antisocial behavior, even not involving dishonesty, often does indicate a good deal about a person's general truthtelling inclination. A careful analysis of the situation of the accused on the witness stand-rather than an easy assumption about irrelevance-leads to this Article's broad conclusion that character impeachment evidence of criminal …

The Whole Truth?: How Rules Of Evidence Make Lawyers Deceitful, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Rules Of Evidence Amendments, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Novel Scientific Evidence Of Intoxication: Acoustic Analysis Of Voice Recordings From The Exxon Valdez, J. Alexander Tanford, David B. Pisoni, Keith Johnson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Part of this article reports original research conducted under the direction of the second and third authors. The initial re search was supported by a contract to Indiana University from General Motors Research Laboratories. The specific analyses of voice recordings of Captain Joseph Hazelwood were conducted by them at the re quest of the National Transportation Safety Board, and are based on tapes and data supplied by the NTSB. The second author may be called as a witness in some of the lawsuits pending against the Exxon Corporation. The opinions expressed in this article concerning whether this evidence meets the …

Improving The Procedure For Resolving Hearsay Issues, Richard D. Friedman

Articles

In this article, I propose two changes in the way hearsay issues are usually resolved. First, in some circumstances courts should divide the burdens of producing the declarant-for example, by imposing the physical burden on the proponent and the financial burden on the opponent. Second, no matter how the declarant is produced as a witness, she should ordinarily testify as part of the proponent's case, subject to cross-examination by the opponent. If the declarant does become a witness, the admissibility of her out-of-court statement should not be resolved until her current testimony about the underlying events is received.

Expert Evidence, Samuel R. Gross

Articles

It seems that the use of expert witnesses in common law courts has always been troublesome. In his Treatise on the Law of Evidence, first published in 1848, Judge John Pitt Taylor describes several classes of witnesses whose testimony should be viewed with caution, including: enslaved people (which accounts for "the lamentable neglect of truth, which is evinced by most of the nations of India, by the subjects of the Czar, and by many of the peasantry in Ireland"); women (because they are more susceptible to "an innate vain love of the marvelous"); and "foreigners and others ... living out …

The Exclusionary Rule And Confession Evidence: Some Perspectives On Evolving Practices And Policies In The United States And England And Wales, Mark Berger

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Public Opinion Polls And Surveys As Evidence: Suggestions For Resolving Confusing And Conflicting Standards Governing Weight And Admissibility , Susan J. Becker

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Section I provides a basic overview of public opinion polls, beginning with a brief explanation of the current popularity of this type of data, followed by a discussion of the courts' historic treatment of survey evidence and a review of modern standards which courts use in evaluating the weight and admissibility of polling data. The exact "rules" governing the conduct of litigants and their respective counsel in commissioning and executing a survey and those governing the courts' refereeing of evidentiary disputes over polling data remain unclear. These unresolved issues are discussed in Section II. Suggestions for moving toward a more …

Best Evidence Rule, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hear No Evil, See No Evil: On Professor Nesson's Claims About Evidence Suppression, Dale A. Nance

Faculty Publications

Response to Professor Nesson's presentaiton at the Decision and Interference Litigation symposium, New York, New York, 1991.

Missing Evidence, Dale A. Nance

Faculty Publications

Given the nature of my enterprise, I resist stating a specific thesis. Nevertheless, for the reader who wants an organizing or motivating principle, I offer the following two recurrent themes. First, I want to examine the relationship of traditional admissibility rules to the problem of missing evidence and to other forms of juridical response to that problem. The reason for this interest will be explained in the next section. Second, I want to investigate, as we proceed, the extent to which the regulation of proof, evidence law broadly conceived, is instrumentally related to accuracy or truth seeking, and the extent …

Authentication, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.