Evidence Commons^™

An Evidence Code: The American Experience, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Professor Paul Rothstien's opening address at the Conference on Current Trends in Evidence, Dalhousie University, 26th November 1976.

Rothstein discusses the American Evidence Code, the American experience with it, and compares it to a proposed Code that Canada is considering.

'Materiality' Limits Prosecutors' Duty To Disclose Exculpatory Evidence To Defense, James K. Knight Jr.

Mercer Law Review

In United States v. Agurs, the U.S. Supreme Court held for the first time that criminal prosecutors have a constitutional duty to voluntarily disclose exculpatory evidence to a defendant even when the defense doesn't request such evidence. The Court, however, limited the scope of this new obligation by narrowly defining the category of material evidence to which it applies. It held that the duty arises only when the exculpatory evidence is so material that had it been disclosed, its use at trial would have created a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt that did not otherwise exist.

Respondent Agurs …

"A Most Deplorable Paradox": Admitting Illegally Obtained Evidence In Georgia--Past, Present, And Future, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Scholarly Works

This Article explores the admissibility of illegally obtained evidence in Georgia criminal cases prior to 1961 and during the post-Mapp era and endeavors to assess the future admissibility of illegally seized evidence in Georgia under both federal and state law.

Survey Of Developments In West Virginia Law: 1975-1976, Lloyd George Jackson Ii, John Burdick Koch, Alan Dale Moats, Thomas A. Vorbach

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Section 12 Of The Canada Evidence Act And The Deliberations Of Simulated Juries, Valerie P. Hans, Anthony N. Doob

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In the past, there have been three major approaches to the experimental investigation of the jury. First, juror selection research involves the study of the relation between verdicts or leniency toward certain classes of defendants and the characteristics of potential jurors. The second class of research is group study, in which the amount and style of individual participation is observed within the context of simulated jury deliberations (e.g., Strodtbeck, James and Hawkins, 1957). Finally, experimental psychology has made another contribution to the study of the jury; numerous researchers have conducted experimental studies employing legal stimulus materials. Typically, in such a …

The Informant And Accomplice Witness: Problems For The Prosecution, 9 J. Marshall J. Prac. & Proc. 243 (1975), Michael D. Marrs

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Impeaching A Defendant's Testimony By Proof Of Post-Arrest Silence: Doyle V. Ohio, F. Ronald O'Keefe

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note will attempt to outline the genesis of the issue of impeachment by post-arrest silence by first discussing the various inquiries into the probative value of silence which had been undertaken by courts on the federal level before Hale (United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171 (1975)) . The focus will then shift to the Hale Court's treatment of this issue. The constitutional aspects of the issue will then be discussed, and the pronouncement of the Doyle Court (Doyle v. Ohio, 96 S. Ct. 2240 (1976)) will be analyzed with an emphasis on the continuity between the Hale and …

Scientific Evidence In Criminal Cases; Scientific And Expert Evidence In Criminal Advocacy, Ronald J. Allen

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evidence: Prior Crimes And Prior Bad Acts Evidence, Paul W. Grimm

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Compulsory Process Ii, Peter Westen

Michigan Law Review

This Article examines the validity of the conventional wisdom. It draws support for its analysis from the constitutional principles of compulsory process, and, in their absence, from related doctrine in the areas of a defendant's right to confront witnesses against him and his right to a fair trial. Part I of the article defines the constitutional standard that governs the simple case of a nonindigent defendant who makes a timely application to produce a witness from within the territory of the jurisdiction. Parts II through IV, in turn, examine that standard in the light of complicating factors such as the …

Constitutional Restraints On The Exclusion Of Evidence In The Defendant's Favor: The Implications Of Davis V. Alaska, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note, first, examines the Davis methodology for determining whether a foreclosed line of cross-examination warrants protection by the confrontation clause, and suggests a test employable by reviewing courts for making that determination. Then, the Note sketches the contours of the clash, prefigured by Davis, between the right of confrontation and the limitations on cross-examination that result from both the assertion of testimonial privileges and trial court relevance rulings.

An Assessment Of Videotape In The Criminal Courts, Ernest H. Short, B. Thomas Florence, Mary Alice Marsh

BYU Law Review

Summary of Contents

I. Introduction

A. A brief history of television and videotape in the justice system

B. Recent studies of videotape technology in the justice system

C. Overview of the goals and methodology of the present study

II. The Videotape System

A. The recording environment

1. Lighting

2. Spatial arrangement

3. Participant mobility

4. Acoustics

5. Electrical power

B. Production techniques

1. Video source location

2. Audio source location

3. Picture composition

a. Zooms

b. Varying video sources

c. Special effects

C. Alternative equipment combinations

1. System 1 : the single camera

2. System 2: the single camera with …

Criminal Procedure--Discovery--Movement Toward Full Disclosure, Richard B. Pyles

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Expanding Defendant's Discovery: The Jencks Act At Pretrial Hearings, David B. Olney

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pretrial Discovery Of Government Informers In Federal Narcotics Cases: A Defense Tool, 9 J. Marshall J. Prac. & Proc. 221 (1975), Richard F. Walsh

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Tucker On The Fruits Of Illegally Obtained Statements, Jeffery P. Reinhard

Cleveland State Law Review

Although the Court has been careful to point out that illegally obtained statements are not admissible in the prosecution's case in chief, Michigan v. Tucker has done much to erode even that principle. In Tucker, the Court found admissible the testimony of a witness whose identity was learned solely on the basis of a statement obtained from the defendant in violation of the guidelines set forth in Miranda. Despite the Court's statement that it was significant that the interrogation preceded Miranda, and notwithstanding its reiteration of the principle that the defendant's statements would not have been admissible in the prosecution's …

Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings In Ohio: Due Process And The Hearsay Dilemma, Sara E. Strattan

Cleveland State Law Review

This comment will explore the extent to which the exclusion of hearsay evidence in a delinquency proceeding is a practical reality in the Ohio system. In so doing, the possibilities for abuse will be highlighted and suggestions for their elimination will be made, all in the spirit of the Supreme Court's mandate to provide fundamental due process safeguards to this procedure.

The Compulsory Process Clause, Peter Westen

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this article traces the history of compulsory process, from its origin in the English transition from an inquisitional to an adversary system of procedure to its eventual adoption in the American Bill of Rights. Part II examines the Supreme Court's seminal decision in Washington v. Texas, which recognized after a century and a half of silence that the compulsory process clause was designed to enable the defendant not only to produce witnesses, but to put them on the stand and have them heard. Part III studies the implications of compulsory process for the defendant's case, from the …

A Look At Florida's Proposed Code Of Evidence, Charles W. Ehrhardt

Scholarly Publications

The law of evidence had been codified in three states, California, New Jersey and Kansas, prior to the United States Supreme Court's promulgation of the Proposed Federal Rules of Evidence. The submission of the rules to the Congress, and their approval, as amended, by the House of Representatives served as the catalyst for renewed interest in evidence codification. Three states have recently adopted comprehensive Rules of Evidence that closely parallel the Proposed Federal Rules, and at least four other states, including Florida, have drafted or are actively considering the adoption of such a codification. During the 1974 session of the …

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

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Admissibility Of Prior-Crimes Evidence In Prosecutions For Child Abuse

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Some Themes In The Proposed Federal Rules Of Evidence, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Although the Federal Rules of Evidence are under consideration by Congress, it is unlikely that many of their major themes will be reversed. The present article examines some of these themes as they appear in the Supreme Court-approved draft. The aim is merely to make more explicit the effects of the Rules and suggest some questions for study.

The Second Circuit Review: Ix. Evidence: Introduction, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The past year's developments in the law of evidence have been characterized by a hardening attitude toward criminal defendants. The United States Supreme Court's evidentiary rulings during the term covered by the Second Circuit Review (1971-72) manifested this trend (although not uniformly). For example, police stop-and-frisk authority was broadened (and with it the use of evidence obtained therefrom); the scope of the immunity from criminal prosecution required to be granted by a governmental body before self-incriminatory statements can be compelled from a witness was narrowed; the right to have counsel at line-ups was limited to postindictment or post-charge line-ups (with …

Character Evidence--The Rules Of Admissibility In Criminal Cases In Kentucky, Merle C. Clark

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

United States V. Dionisio, Lewis Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Out-Of-State Witnesses And Compulsory Process: The Indigent Defendant's Rights

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Eclectic Approach To Impeachment By Prior Convictions, Lawrence A. Margolis

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Almost every state permits persons convicted of a crime to testify in either their own or another person's behalf. Nonetheless, these states allow evidence of a person's prior criminal conviction to be used to impeach his credibility. The use of this method of impeachment in criminal trials has been the subject of substantial adverse criticism; yet, the practice remains widespread. This article first will discuss the problems that arise from the use of prior conviction evidence for impeachment purposes in criminal trials and then will examine several proposals that would restrict the use of such evidence. Finally, the article will …

Prior Convictions As Impeaching Evidence

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Procedure--Self-Incrimination--Harmless Error--Application Of The Harmless Error Doctrine To Violations Of Miranda: The California Experience, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Using decisions of the appellate courts of California that have applied the federal harmless error rule to violations of Miranda v. Arizona and Escobedo v. Illinois, this Note will examine the logic and effects of the California application. However, the California experience can only be understood by first briefly describing the United States Supreme Court's decisions regarding harmless constitutional error and then showing the approaches taken by other states in their application of the harmless error rule to Miranda violations. Not only will this analysis put the California experience in its proper perspective, but it will also show the …

Intrusion Into The Body, William G. Eckhardt

Faculty Works

The thesis of this article is that the rights of servicemen should be protected with the search and seizure concepts of the fourth amendment rather than with the fifth amendment protection against self-incrimination when intrusive bodily searches are required. The Supreme Court enunciated standard for intrusion into the body found in Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966). The subsequent application of this standard in the federal courts, and its adoption in the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1969, (Rev.) are explored. Federal court decisions discussing the privilege against self-incrimination are contrasted with opinions of the Court of Military Appeals …