Evidence Commons^™

Stanton V. Stanton, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Oregon V. Hass, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

The Working Man's Nemesis - The Polygraph, Victor Jerome Boone

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Notice: An Exercise In Exorcism, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Use Of In Camera Hearings In Ruling On The Informer Privilege, Ronald E. Levine

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The thesis of this article is that most of the problems of defining the scope of the privilege in a particular case are due to the paucity of information available to the trial judge who must rule on the issue. Furthermore, many of the formulas presently used are conceptually and functionally inadequate. Both of these problems can be solved by the use of in camera hearings, for such proceedings not only will provide the trial judge with sufficient information to make a fair and rational decision, but will also alleviate the present necessity to rule only on the basis of …

Congressional Discretion In Dealing With The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Stuart M. Lockman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

On November 20, 1972, the Supreme Court, pursuant to statutory authority, adopted the Federal Rules of Evidence. The new rules of evidence were not to take effect, however, until ninety days after they had been submitted to Congress. The rules were officially submitted on February 5, 1973, but even before that date they had become the subject of extensive legislative debate. While some attorneys praise the codification of evidence rules as a progressive step, others maintain that certain of these promulgations will have an objectionable impact on the federal judicial system or that the Supreme Court has exceeded its authority …

The Proposed Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Supreme Court has approved a uniform code of evidence for all federal courts. Amendments to the Supreme Court's rules are now pending in the House of Representatives. From the point of view of a specialist in the law of evidence, Professor Rothstein analyzes the differences between the Supreme Court's proposals and the House amendments and suggests solutions to these conflicts.

Easy Cases, Bad Law, And Burdens Of Proof, Roger B. Dworkin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Right To Counsel And The Role Of Counsel In Juvenile Court Proceedings, Daniel L. Skoler

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium on Juvenile Problems: In re Gault

Federal Courts--Discovery--Stay Of Discovery In Civil Court To Protect Proceedings In Concurrent Criminal Action--The Pattern Of Remedies, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The federal criminal discovery rules were a carefully weighed compromise between the parties' needs for information and the defendant's need for protection from inquisatorial investigation. This balance may be upset when the more liberal discovery rules in a concurrent, related civil action permit information to be obtained which is not discoverable under the criminal rules. Two recent cases, United States v. Simon and United States v. American Radiator &- Standard Sanitary Corp., illustrate the difficulty of protecting the integrity of the criminal discovery rules in such a situation.

Criminal Procedure--Evidence--Composite Drawing Not Producible Under Jencks Act--United States V. Zurita, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Following a bank robbery, the bank manager and his wife provided descriptions enabling an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to compose drawings of the robbers which were then "approved" by each of these witnesses as being substantially accurate. At the defendant's trial four years later, he was identified by the manager and his wife as one of the robbers. The defendant, in an attempt to impeach their testimony, requested that the government be compelled under the Jencks Act to produce the original composite drawings. The trial court denied this request, stating that the production of these drawings was …

The Presently Expanding Concept Of Judicial Notice, Fortunata Giudice, C. William Kraft

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Evidence--Medical Treatises To Be Admitted As Direct Evidence In Wisconsin--Lewandowski V. Preferred Risk Mutual Ins. Co., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's attorney in a personal injury action sought on cross-examination to impeach plaintiff's physician regarding his determination of the degree of plaintiff's disability by referring to the medical standards set forth in the American Medical Association's Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment--The Extremities and Back. Pointing to the physician's testimony that he had not relied on the Guide in making his evaluation, the trial court sustained plaintiff's objection that such cross-examination was not permissible. On appeal, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the trial court was correct in sustaining the objection in accordance with the established rule that it …

Preliminary Notes Toward A Study Of Judicial Notice, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The author describes the common law as a "machine," with judges and lawyers as its working parts. He explains that its successful operation requires a kind of "intellectual adrenalin" in order to keep it responsive to its changing environment. This is the function of judicial notice. The author next examines the different views of judicial notice and points out that each is a reflection of the era in which it was created. He concludes that judicial notice is not a distinct doctrine like the hearsay rule, but rather is simply the art of thinking as practiced within the legal system.

The Smith Rule And A Party's Burden Of Coming Forward When Relying On Circumstantial Evidence, Paul A. Kiefer

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Controlling The Police: The Judge's Role In Making And Reviewing Law Enforcement Decisions, Wayne R. Lafave, Frank J. Remington

Michigan Law Review

We have chosen to focus here upon judicial involvement (1) in determining whether arrest and search warrants should issue and (2) in reviewing such decisions after they have been executed (and, perhaps, made) by police officials. A comparison of some recent findings respecting the actual practice at the trial level with the "ideal" as set forth in appellate opinions may allow some conclusions to be drawn both as to the present effectiveness of appellate rulings on these subjects and as to the ultimate feasibility of further implementation of those rulings. Finally, since the exclusionary rule is, theoretically at least, one …

The Use Of Coerced Confessions In State Courts, J. A. Spanogle

Vanderbilt Law Review

It is now well settled that involuntary confessions must be excluded from evidence in all criminal trials in state courts. It has been difficult, however, to distinguish a voluntary confession from an involuntary one, because the term "involuntary" is not well defined. This lack of definition, which creates great problems for state trial and appellate courts in attempting to apply the rule to individual cases, has, in turn, stemmed from a lack of understanding of the reasons for excluding involuntary confessions. The United States Supreme Court has handed down thirty-four coerced confession cases, holding confessions admissible in some factual situations …

The New Michigan Pre-Trial Procedural Rules-Models For Other States?, Robert Meisenholder

Michigan Law Review

The new Michigan procedural laws are embodied in a revised set of statutes and court rules which became effective January 1, 1963, after a long period of study by a Joint Committee on Michigan Procedural Revision. They abolish an anachronistic distinction between procedures in law and equity, abrogate a scattered, disorganized set of rules and statutes, and create a unified, coherent procedural system.

Evidence- Hearsay-Scope Of Federal Rule 43(A), David K. Kroll S. Ed

Michigan Law Review

The clocktower of plaintiff county's courthouse buckled and collapsed into the courtroom below. Charred timbers were found in the wreckage. Several residents reported that they saw lightning strike the tower five days before the collapse. Plaintiff carried insurance for loss by fire or lightning, and sued the insurers when they denied liability. Defendant claimed that the tower collapsed of its own weight because of faulty design, deterioration, and overloading. To account for the charred timbers defendant introduced into evidence a fifty-eight-year-old newspaper article from the files of the city newspaper describing a fire in the courthouse during its construction. The …

Depositions For Discovery: The New Virginia Rule, J. Westwood Smithers

University of Richmond Law Review

Important amendments to its Rules, effective April 1, 1961, were recently adopted by the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. Perhaps the change of most interest to trial lawyers was the revision of Rule 3:23 relating to D'epositions and Discovery in Actions at Law.

Presumptions: Phenomena On The Periphery, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In examining the law of evidence relative to the functions served by the device called “rebuttable presumption,” two classes of cases constantly tantalize the analyst and irritate the purist. The first concerns those instances where courts which regularly pay homage at the altar of Thayer suddenly and inexplicably send the question whether a presumption has been rebutted to the trier of fact. The second involves those courts which insist that, while the presumption mechanism does not shift the risk of non-persuasion to the opponent, the question whether the presumption has been rebutted always and quite properly ought to be decided …

An Introduction To The Study Of Presumptions, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To The Study Of Presumptions, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Administrative Law--Scope Of Judicial Review--Substantial Evidence Rule, J. O. F.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prejudicial Error: Admissions And Exclusions Of Evidence In The Federal Courts, Robert W. Gibbs

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Motion For A Directed Verdict In Indiana: An Evaluation Of Present Standards

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Grand Jury Under The Fifth Amendment Indictments Not Subject To Attack On Evidentiary Ground, Jerome K. Walsh, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of willfully evading federal income taxes due for the years 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. His motion before trial to dismiss the indictment on the ground that he was firmly convinced that there could have been no legal or competent evidence before the grand jury was denied by the trial court. At the conclusion of the government's case, and again just before the case went to the jury, counsel for the defendant moved to dismiss the indictment on the ground that only hearsay evidence offered by three revenue agents had …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Use Of Habeas Corpus To Allow Federal Court To Review State Court Jury Determination Of Voluntariness Of Confession, Herbert R. Brown S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The prisoner had been convicted of murder in the state court. He brought a habeas corpus proceeding in federal district court to secure his release from custody on the ground that the conviction was based on a confession which was obtained by physical violence. The confession had been submitted to the jury, which was instructed to consider it only if it found that it was not obtained by duress or fear produced by threats. The district court granted the writ of habeas corpus. On appeal, held, affirmed. The district court could determine the facts of the case for itself. …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Conflict of Laws--Governmental Activities--Recognition in Forum of Sister State's Original Revenue Claim

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Constitutional Law--State Taxation of Interstate Commerce--Sales Tax on Shipboard Sales to Passengers

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Courts--Certiorari from United States Supreme Court--Loss of Importance Ground for Dismissal

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Domestic Relations--Adoption--Revocation of Consent by Natural Parents

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Evidence--Admissibility--Exclusion of Evidence Obtained by Unreasonable Search and Seizure

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Federal Procedure--Illegal Search--Injunction Against Agent's Testifying in State Court

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Income Taxation--Claim of Right Income--Time of Deduction when Restoration Required

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Malicious Prosecution--Privilege--Filing of Complaint with Bar Ethics and Grievance Committee

Criminal Procedure - Availablity Of Federal Court Injunction To Prevent Federal Officer From Testifying In State Court As To Illegally-Obtained Evidence, Edward C. Hanpeter

Michigan Law Review

Prosecution of petitioner in federal court for the unlawful acquisition of marihuana failed when the court granted petitioner's motion to suppress the marihuana as evidence because it was obtained by a search based on an invalid search warrant. The federal officer who had seized the marihuana then swore to a complaint before a state judge, and a warrant for petitioner's arrest for violation of state law issued. While awaiting trial, petitioner filed a motion in federal district court to enjoin the federal officer from testifying in the state court. The district court denied the injunction, and the court of appeals …