Law Commons^™

Cameras In The Courtroom: Guidelines For State Criminal Trials, Nancy T. Gardner

Michigan Law Review

This Note analyzes the conflicting interests involved in televising state criminal trials and proposes a model set of guidelines for consideration by states that decide to permit electronic media in their courtrooms. The Note favors restrictions on broadcasters once in the courtroom and advocates that the defendant's right to a fair trial receive more scrupulous protection than the broadcast media's interest in attendance and the public's "right to know." Part I presents the constitutional principles with which any set of guidelines must comply. Part II analyzes the policy considerations that should guide the formulation of state guidelines, and concludes that …

I Cannot Tell A Lie: The Standard For New Trial In False Testimony Cases, Daniel Wolf

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the question of what standard should be used for granting a new trial when a defendant's conviction is alleged to have been based, at least in part, on false testimony. Part I demonstrates the failure of the existing standards to strike a satisfactory balance between defendants' rights and the efficient administration of the criminal justice system. Part II argues that motions for retrial based upon false testimony should be governed by a standard drawn not only from newly discovered evidence cases generally, but also from cases involving prosecutorial misconduct. Finally, Part III suggests that the proper test …

Cannibalism And The Common Law: The Story Of The Tragic Last Voyage Of The Mignonette And The Strange Legal Proceedings To Which It Gave Rise, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Cannibalism and the Common Law: The Story of the Tragic Last Voyage of the Mignonette and the Strange Legal Proceedings to Which it Gave Rise by A.W. Brian Simpson

Measuring The Costs Of Civil Justice, Edward Brunet

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Costs of the Civil Justice System: Court Expenditures for Various Types of Civil Cases by J.S. Kakalik and R.L. Ross

The Hague Convention On Taking Evidence Abroad: Conflict Over Pretrial Discovery, Margaret T. Burns

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note asserts that the Hague Convention is not the exclusive vehicle available to U.S. litigants for taking evidence abroad. It argues that in certain circumstances, U.S. courts should allow litigants to use the more liberal methods of the Federal Rules when seeking evidence from party litigants in other signatory nations.

Private Settlement As Alternative Adjudication: A Rationale For Negotiation Ethics, Robert B. Gordon

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A rule of ethics like the one proposed in this Note takes a step toward this goal. Part I explores the general nature of unethical settlement negotiation, and the inadequate responses offered by both the American Bar Association Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Part II presents a theory for recognizing private settlement negotiation as a substantive component of the adjudicatory process, deserving of all the ethical protections afforded forensic litigation. Part III evaluates certain proposals for reform and responds to various criticisms commonly leveled against efforts to regulate private negotiation …

Verdict According To Conscience: Perspectives On The English Criminal Trial Jury 1200-1800, Thomas A. Green

Books

This book treats the history of the English criminal trial jury from its origins to the eve of the Victorian reforms in the criminal law. It consists of eight free-standing essays on important aspects of that history and a conclusion. Each chapter addresses the phenomenon that has come to be known as "jury nullification," the exercise of jury discretion in favor of a defendant whom the jury nonetheless believes to have committed the act with which he is charged. Historically, some instances of nullification reflect the jury's view that the act in question is not unlawful, while in other cases …

Reappraising The Jury's Role As Finder Of Fact, Martin Kotler

Martin A. Kotler

This Article addresses the question of whether and under what circumstances a trial judge should give a jury a so-called “ultimate outcome instruction,” informing the jurors of the legal consequences which will flow from their factual determinations. Thus, for example, in a state where a finding that the plaintiff’s negligence was equal to the defendant’s will result in no recovery, should the jury be so instructed. Similarly, should jurors be told whether awards are taxable in a civil case or instructed on sentencing practices in a criminal case.

It concludes that unless such an instruction is legislatively mandated, it is …