Law Commons^™

Introduction To: Education Inadequacy, Inequality, And Failed State Policy: A Synthesis Of Expert Reports Prepared For Williams V. State Of California, Jeannie Oakes

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.

Destruction Of Documents Before Proceedings Commence: What Is A Court To Do?, Camille Cameron, Jonathan Liberman

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The effective performance by courts of their adjudicative role depends on the availability of relevant evidence. In civil proceedings, the discovery process aims to ensure that such evidence is available. If documents that would be relevant evidence in a trial are destroyed, a fair adjudication is made difficult, if not impossible. This is so whether the destruction of documents occurs before or after proceedings commence. This article asks what a trial judge should do in a situation where relevant evidence is unavailable because one of the parties has destroyed documents before the proceedings commenced but anticipating that such proceedings were …

Peer Dialogue: The Quagmire Of Scientific Expert Testimony: Crumping The Supreme Court's Style, Paul R. Rice

Missouri Law Review

the Article argues in support of Professor Crump's critique of the Supreme Court of the United States's decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Kumho Tire Co v. Carmichael. Judges are unsuited to the task of evaluating scientific inquiry and should refrain from trying to do so. When evaluating the admissibility of evidence, the courts should use a logical relevance test.

It Is Not So Simply Because An Expert Says It Is So: The Reliability Of Gang Expert Testimony Regarding Membership In Criminal Street Gangs: Pushing The Limits Of Texas Rule Of Evidence 702., Placido G. Gomez

St. Mary's Law Journal

The mechanisms developed by the criminal justice system addressing the criminal activities of street gangs, for the most part, have proved ineffective. The evolution of gangs, their complex structure, and multipurpose focus keep them one step ahead of law enforcement. The most recent weapon created to fight the war on gangs, the civil injunction, suffers from numerous inadequacies. One concern is that civil injunctions raise numerous constitutional concerns. Another is that these injunctions fall short of constitutional demands. Furthermore, the practical implementation of the injunction forces an analysis of the reliability of the gang expert’s testimony. This Article proposes courts …

Forfeiture By Wrongdoing And Those Who Acquiesce In Witness Intimidation: A Reach Exceeding Its Grasp And Other Problems With Federal Rule Of Evidence 804(B)(6), James F. Flanagan

Faculty Publications

This article is the first comprehensive and critical analysis of the new exception to the hearsay rule that permits prosecutors to admit hearsay statements of absent witnesses when the defendant causes their unavailability at trial. The article develops the problems with the rule's overbroad language, its potential to admit unreliable hearsay and its relationship to the Confrontation Clause. These issues are of increasing interest to lawyers, judges and justices now that it is a federal rule and been adopted by ten states.

The first section is a comprehensive statement of the rule as now applied. The exception is traced from …

Wrongful Convictions And The Accuracy Of The Criminal Justice System, H. Patrick Furman

Publications

No abstract provided.

Evidence: Is Oklahoma Balancing The Scales Of Justice By Tying The Hands Of Trial Judges?: The 2002 Amendment To Section 2403 Of The Oklahoma Evidence Code Mandating Admission Of In-Life Victim Photographs In Homicide Cases, Liesa L. Richter

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Compromise Approach To Compromise Verdicts, Michael B. Abramowicz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Although one of the legal system’s most salient attributes is its insistence that a civil jury choose the story of one party over that of another, scholars have thus far paid almost no attention to the possibility of replacing the preponderance-of-the-evidence rule with an alternative that is not “winner-take-all.” This Article focuses on the issue of uncertainty about what the defendant did or whether the plaintiff was injured, offering an alternative to the extremes of all-or-nothing and compromise verdicts. It considers the possibility that, while sometimes an all-or-nothing verdict is appropriate, at other times a compromise verdict would be better. …

Virtual Cross-Examination: The Art Of Impeaching Hearsay, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

Trial lawyers and judges are quite accustomed to courtroom battles over the admissibility of hearsay. But relatively few have much experience at challenging the credibility of hearsay. Once hearsay is admitted in evidence, even the ablest advocates typically proceed as if the hearsay battle were over, at least until the appeal. Few lawyers take advantage of the opportunities available to impeach the hearsay declarant. Consider the perspective of one experienced trial judge: I sometimes wonder at what seems to me the passing up of golden opportunities by the able advocate. Foremost among these lost opportunities is the virtual total neglect …

Implementing Constitutional Rights For Juveniles: The Parent-Child Privilege In Context, Catherine J. Ross

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article advocates for the creation of a parent-child privilege by focusing on the parental contribution to raising their children. The article argues that children cannot fully exercise their constitutional rights without being able to confide freely in their parents and consult them before waiving rights and while working with their attorneys. I begin by describing the current state of privilege law and suggest that there is already a “de facto” tendency to observe a parent-child privilege. I show that courts have failed to distinguish among three distinctive kinds of confidences: (1) testimony concerning confidences from a minor child to …

Harmonizing Rules 609 And 608 (B) Of The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Donald H. Zeigler

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Trials And Tribulations: Science In The Law, Susan Haack

Articles

No abstract provided.

Admissibility Of Fruits Of Breached Evidentiary Privileges: The Importance Of Adversarial Fairness, Party Culpability, And Fear Of Immunity, Robert P. Mosteller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Victim Impact Evidence: Hard To Find The Real Rules, Robert P. Mosteller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Criminal Law And Procedure, Julie E. Mcconnell, Gregory Franklin, Craig Winston Stallard

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Maintaining The Adversarial System: The Practice Of Allowing Jurors To Question Witnesses During Trial, Kristen Debarba

Vanderbilt Law Review

A defendant sits in the witness stand undergoing examination by his attorney. He is accused of armed robbery, among other criminal acts. During the course of the defendant's testimony, a juror blurts out that he has a question. The judge tells the juror to write his question down and advises the juror that he will be able to ask his question upon completion of the attorneys' examinations. When the juror's question is finally asked, the judge indicates to the defendant's attorney that the attorney should address the matter raised by the juror on reexamination. During the reexamination, the attorney turns …

An Introduction To The Rules Of Evidence Applicable To Collection Cases In Maryland Trial Courts, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

This class handout introduces students to the basic concepts of evidence using examples and language from the Maryland Rules of Evidence.

Evidence, Robin Jean Davis, Louis J. Palmer Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Defendant's Right To Exculpatory Evidence: Does The Constitutional Duty To Disclose Exculpatory Evidence Extend To New Evidence Discovered Post-Conviction, Todd E. Jaworksy

St. Thomas Law Review

This note will first address Brady and the modifications made to the disclosure law by subsequent cases. Second, this note will explain the ethical obligations concerning a prosecutor's duty to disclose exculpatory evidence post-conviction as set out by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Third, this note will critically examine various case law in which the constitutional duty to disclose is seemingly extended to encompass post-conviction, newly discovered exculpatory evidence in the hands of the prosecutor. Finally, this note will conclude with an analysis and opinion of the disclosure law, discussing why the constitutional duty should be extended post-conviction.

The Maturation And Disintegration Of The Hearsay Exception For Statements For Medical Examination In Child Sexual Abuse Cases, Robert P. Mosteller

Law and Contemporary Problems

Mosteller examines the treatment of children as victims and witnesses in criminal trials, most frequently involving sexual abuse, over the last quarter of the twentieth century, and from that experience, to draw lessons. He also examines what has been learned about the hearsay exception for "statements for purposes of medical diagnosis of treatment."

Child Witness Policy: Law Interfacing With Social Science, Dorothy F. Marsil, Jean Montoya, David Ross, Louise Graham

Law and Contemporary Problems

The number of children testifying in court has posed serious practical and legal problems for the judicial system. One problem confronting the courts is how to protect children from experiencing the psychological trauma resulting from face-to-face confrontation with a defendant who may have physically harmed the child or threatened future harm to the child.

The Other Shoe Drops: Minnesota Rejects Daubert, Peter B. Knapp

Faculty Scholarship

In 1991, the United States Supreme Court handed decided Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., rejecting the long-standing federal test for the admissibility of scientific testimony articulated in Frye v. United States. Unlike many states, however, which embraced Daubert within years--or even months--of the federal decision, Minnesota declined to make Daubert the law of the jurisdiction. In a pair of cases decided in 2000, Goeb v. Tharaldson and Sentinel Mgmt. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety, the court held that Minnesota would retain the general acceptance test. The court's rejection of Daubert can be read as an attempt to give the …

No Link: The Jury And The Origins Of The Confrontation Right And The Hearsay Rule, Richard D. Friedman

Book Chapters

The rule against hearsay has long been one of the most distinctive elements of the common law of evidence, and indeed— except for recent changes on the civil side in many jurisdictions— of the common law system of trial. Observers have long believed that the rule, like most of the other exclusionary rules of the common law of evidence, is "the child of the jury system". Though Edmund Morgan argued vigorously to the contrary, the received understanding is that the jury's inability to account satisfactorily for the defects of hearsay explains the rule. A famous, and perhaps seminal, expression of …

Narrative Relevance, Imagined Juries, And A Supreme Court Inspired Agenda For Jury Research, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

This paper has its roots in Old Chief v. United States, a case the Supreme Court of the United States decided in 1997. I will begin by describing this case; then comment on its implications for the Supreme Court’s conception of the jury, and conclude by examining the agenda one may draw from it for empirical jury research. Old Chief arose when Johnny Lynn Old Chief was charged not only with assault with a dangerous weapon and using a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, but also with violating a law that forbids convicted felons from possessing …

Where's The Evidence - Dealing With Spoliation By Plaintiffs In Product Liability Cases, Christopher B. Major

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of Mushrooms And Nullifiers: Rules Of Evidence And The American Jury, Stephan Landsman

Saint Louis University Public Law Review

No abstract provided.

Merging Technology With Justice: How Electronic Courtrooms Shape Evidentiary Concerns, Nicole J. De Sario

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note will explore the evidentiary issues raised by the Electronic Courtroom, state how they are presently handled, and highlight the need for the adaptation of the Rules to allow for the smooth integration of such technology into the courtroom. Part I explains why the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts began funding Electronic Courtrooms and how they have grown in numbers. Part II gives details about the type of equipment typically employed in the Electronic Courtroom, using Courtroom 575 as a case study. The observable impacts of technology on a trial also will be noted. Part III contains an …

The Writings Of John Barker Waite And Thomas Davies On The Search And Seizure Exclusionary Rule, Yale Kamisar

Articles

After browsing through many volumes of the Michigan Law Review, searching for the article I would discuss on the occasion of the law review's 100th anniversary, I wound up with two "finalists": a 1955 article by Professor John Barker Waite on the law of arrest search and seizure (on further reflection, four Michigan Law Review commentaries on the general subject written by Waite between 1933 and 1955)' and a monumental 200-page article (surely one of the longest articles ever to appear in the Michigan Law Review) by Thomas Davies on the "original Fourth Amendment. 2

Hearsay Exceptions: Adjusting The Ratio Of Intuition To Psychological Science, John E. B. Myers, Ingrid Cordon, Simona Ghetti, Gail S. Goodman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Myers explores hearsay exeptions by examining three exceptions: excited utterances, statements for purposes of diagnosis or treatment, and the residual hearsay exception. The focus is child declarants, and these exceptions play key roles in child abuse litigation.

Forensic Interviews Of Children: The Components Of Scientific Validity And Legal Admissibility, Nancy E. Walker

Law and Contemporary Problems

The problems associated with assessments of children's reports of victimization in criminal proceedings came to national attention during the 1980s and 1990s in a series of highly publicized trials of daycare staff. Walker describes information that professionals need to know if they are to conduct valid interview of children in forensic contexts.