Law Commons^™

A Proposal To Amend Rule 407 Of The Federal Rules Of Evidence To Conform With The Underlying Relevancy Rationale For The Rule In Negligence And Strict Liability Actions, Ralph Ruebner, Eugene Goryunov

ExpressO

The current version of FRE 407 prevents the use of evidence of remedial measures taken after an event that caused an injury or harm in order to prove negligence, culpable conduct, or strict product liability. Our proposal is that the language of Rule 407 be amended to preclude the admissibility of remedial measures which are taken both before and after an injury. This change will implement the relevancy rationale for the rule.

Prosecutors: Factors To Aid Your Filing Decisions With Respect To Fatal Traffic Collisions, Kimberly Rebecca Bird

ExpressO

As you may know, on a fairly regular basis, prosecutors are faced with filing decisions with respect to fatal traffic collisions. Many of them, of course, do not involve criminal negligence and are not prosecuted as crimes. Sometimes, on the other hand, the circumstances are egregious and the decision to be made is whether to file a case as a vehicular manslaughter or as a murder, on an implied malice theory. There are a finite number of California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal cases (beginning with People v. Watson (1981) 30 Cal.3d 290) that have addressed the sufficiency of …

Out To Lunch: Saks & Koehler Reply To Rudin & Imman's Commentary, Jonathan Koehler

Faculty Working Papers

At several points in their comment on our article in Science (1), Rudin & Inman (2, 3) asserted or clearly implied that we had been dishonest in our presentation. In each of those instances Rudin & Inman's charges are groundless, as we demonstrate below.

Had Rudin & Inman examined the actual source [see Fig. 1, right], they would have discovered that the words were indeed those of Moenssens, that they were consistent with the context in which they appeared, that Moenssens was not quoting Zain or anyone else, and that Saks & Koehler had accurately attributed the statement to its …

Probability, Policy And The Problem Of Reference Class, Robert J. Rhee

Faculty Scholarship

This short paper focuses on the problem of reference class in evidentiary assessment as it relates to probability and weight of evidence. The reluctance to inject mathematical formalism into the factfinding function is justified. Objective probability requires a reference class from which a proportion is derived. Probability assessments change with the reference class. If a proposition is subject to proportional comparison against two or more different references, their selection is often an inductive process. The advantage of objectivity and methodological rigor is illusory. A legal dispute is the search for a plausible understanding of the truth, and an overtly mathematized …

Who Knew? Admissibility Of Subsequent Remedial Measures When Defendants Are Without Knowledge Of The Injuries, Mark G. Boyko, Ryan G. Vacca

Law Faculty Scholarship

Federal Rule of Evidence 407 prohibits the introduction of subsequent remedial measures for the purposes of demonstrating negligence, culpable conduct, or product defect. But the rule breaks down, in application and purpose, when a defendant undertakes the new safety measure after the plaintiff's injury, but before the defendant had knowledge of the loss. Such a situation is not uncommon. Would-be defendants frequently improve their products and product safety for a variety of reasons. Toxic exposure cases, where exposure often predates diagnosis of the injury by a decade or more, represent a prime example of cases where defendants are likely to …

Everything New Is Old Again: Brain Fingerprinting And Evidentiary Analogy, Alexandra J. Roberts

Law Faculty Scholarship

Brain Fingerprinting uses electroencephalography to ascertain the presence or absence of information in a subject's brain based on his reaction to particular stimuli. As a new forensic tool, Brain Fingerprinting technology stands poised to exert a tremendous impact on the presentation and outcome of selected legal cases in the near future. It also provides a fertile case study to examine the role of analogical reasoning in the process by which lawyers, experts, judges, and the media influence how factjinders perceive and evaluate unfamiliar types of proof When juridical metaphor disguises, distorts, or destroys ideas, it ceases to serve as an …

In The Prosecutor We Trust? A Case Against Permitting Evidence Of Unadjudicated Criminal Conduct Into The Sentencing Phase Of Capital Trials, Anne-Marie Von Aschwege

Saint Louis University Public Law Review

No abstract provided.

Brady And Jailhouse Snitches, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Clarifying The Curative Admissibility Doctrine: Using The Principles Of Forfeiture And Deterrence To Shape The Relief For An Opponent's Evidentiary Misconduct, Edward J. Imwinkelried

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Special Issues Raised By Rape Trial, Aviva Orenstein

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Emotional Juror., Todd E. Pettys

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Expert Witness Ethics, Joseph Sanders

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evidence And Ethics: Litigating In The Shadows Of The Rules, Joseph A. Colquitt

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

After Thirty Years, Is It Time To Change The Vehicle Inventory Search Doctrine?, Nicholas B. Stampfli

Seattle University Law Review

Part II of this Comment will describe the inventory search as it has developed in the Supreme Court's jurisprudence in order to provide background and understanding of the procedure as it stands today. Part III will address the difficulties in applying the Supreme Court's approach by comparing the differences in police department policies. Part IV will then closely examine Washington's somewhat laudable approach to inventory searches, the limits the state has placed on the scope of inventory searches, and the steps the state has taken to impose a consent requirement. Last, Part V will suggest much needed reforms for Washington …

Idealizing Science And Demonizing Experts: An Intellectual History Of Expert Evidence, Jennifer L. Mnookin

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Where The Rubber Meets The Road: Thinking About Expert Evidence As Expert Testimony, Simon A. Cole

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Finding The Golden Mean With Daubert: An Elusive, Perhaps Impossible, Goal, Robert P. Mosteller

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Daubert Challenges To Firearms (“Ballistics”) Identifications, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Expertise In Action: Presenting And Attacking Expert Evidence In Dna Fingerprinting Cases, Michael Lynch

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Supersizing Daubert Science For Litigation And Its Implications For Legal Practice And Scientific Research, Gary Edmond

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Irrelevance, And Central Relevance, Of The Boundary Between Science And Non-Science In The Evaluation Of Expert Witness Reliability, D. Michael Risinger

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Legal Ethics And Scientific Testimony: In Defense Of Manufacturing Uncertainty, Deconstructing Expertise And Other Trial Strategies, David S. Caudill

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Youngblood Success Stories: Overcoming The "Bad Faith" Destruction Of Evidence Standard, Teresa N. Chen

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Principled Exception And The Forgotten Criterion, Steve Coughlan

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The principled exception to the hearsay rule is routinely described as being settled by the "twin criteria" of necessity and reliability. In fact a third criterion is also — or at least ought to be — at play: that admitting the evidence through hearsay would not undermine any other rule of evidence. The Court has made reference to this third criterion in the past, but it has largely been ignored in both Supreme Court and lower court decisions. The recent judgement in Couture depends in a limited way on that question, and so it marks an opportunity to articulate the …

The Science Of Dna Identification: From The Laboratory To The Courtroom (And Beyond), David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

This article focuses on sequences of DNA base-pairs, which are becoming increasingly important in the field of law. These DNA sequences are used by forensic scientists to discover evidence such as blood stains, semen, saliva, and hair, and has become highly useful in the courtroom with regard to exonerating the innocent and convicting the guilty. Part I of the article examines how courts may (or may not) admit DNA evidence in court through four phases: uncritical acceptance; serious challenges to analytical methods and statistical interpretation of the results; renewed acceptance of DNA evidence; and acceptance of advance systems of DNA …

Nontestimonial Hearsay After Crawford, Davis And Bockting, Laird Kirkpatrick

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution bars some hearsay from being introduced against criminal defendants on the ground that it would violate their right to confront the witnesses against them. In a recent series of decisions - Crawford, Davis and Bockting - the U.S. Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the Confrontation Clause by interpreting it to govern only testimonial hearsay. This article criticizes the analysis and process by which the Court reached its conclusion that the Confrontation Clause has no application to nontestimonial hearsay and raises questions of history and policy about the possible dangers of …

Ethical Firewalls, Limited Admissibility, And Rule 703, Daniel D. Blinka

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Evidence Rule 608(B): Gateway To The Minefield Of Witness Preparation, Gerald L. Shargel

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecutors, Ethics, And Expert Witnesses, Paul C. Giannelli, Kevin C. Mcmunigal

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Remarkable Stratagems And Conspiracies": How Unscrupulous Lawyers And Credulous Judges Created An Exception To The Hearsay Rule, Marianne Wesson

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.