Evidence Commons^™

Constitutional Law - Fifth Amendment - Right Of Defendant In Denaturalization Proceedings To Refuse To Testify, Theodore G. Koerner

Michigan Law Review

The United States as plaintiff instituted denaturalization proceedings alleging that deliberately false statements were made by defendant at the time of his naturalization. No "affidavit showing good cause" for such suit, required by section 340 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, was filed with the original complaint although one was filed with a later amended complaint. When plaintiff sought to take defendant's deposition pursuant to rule 26, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, defendant appeared for the examination but refused to be sworn. He was taken before the district court which directed that he be sworn, and he …

Evidence - Corroboration Of Extrajudicial Confession - Quantum Of Independent Evidence Required To Sustain Conviction, Thomas A. Dieterich

Michigan Law Review

Sent to a hotel room at midnight to investigate reports of a contemplated robbery, the police found the defendant and another man, strangers in town, with loaded revolvers nearby. After defendant failed to account for the guns, the police confronted him with the robbery report, and he signed a confession. On appeal of his conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery, held, reversed, two justices dissenting in part. If evidence independent of the confession is such that reasonable minds could believe that the crime was in fact committed, the corpus delicti is sufficiently established to make the confession admissible. The …

Full Faith And Credit To Judgments And Public Acts, Kurt H. Nadelmann

Michigan Law Review

Interest here is concentrated on full faith and credit for public acts. But what led to insertion of the command respecting public acts cannot be divorced historically from the study of the command of full faith for judgments. The whole field, therefore, has been included in the reexamination. Clarifications obtainable on the "judgments" side, it will be seen, help also on the "public acts" side. On both sides there are historical facts which deserve greater attention than has been hitherto given, and if, as a result, some of the myths surrounding the' Lawyers Clause are exploded, the rethinking may have …

Workmen's Compensation - Federal Employers' Liability Act - Basis Of Liability Not Common Law Negligence, Robert L. Knauss S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a laborer in a railroad section gang, was assigned to burn weeds near a railroad track. He was injured when he fell into a culvert as he was trying to escape from smoke and flames which had been fanned by a passing train. A jury in the Circuit Court of St. Louis awarded damages under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA). The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed upon the ground that the evidence was not sufficient to support a finding of the railroad's liability, and the case should not have been allowed to go to a jury. On certiorari …

Evidence - Dead Man's Statute - Interpretation Of "Transaction", Howard N. Nemerovski S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was a passenger in an automobile which collided with one driven by defendant's intestate. Both drivers were killed, and plaintiff sued defendant, administrator of intestate's estate, for personal injuries, alleging negligence. There were no other eye-witnesses to the collision, and the trial court, relying upon the Alabama dead man's statute, would not permit plaintiff to testify to any of the details or circumstances of the accident, or even to the fact that she had been involved in an accident with an automobile driven by the decedent. The jury found for defendant. On appeal, held, reversed. Plaintiff, passenger in …

Evidence - Examination Of Witnesses - Surprise As Grounds For Impeaching A Party's Own Witness, John A. Ziegler, Jr. S.Ed., Raymond Dittrich

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was convicted of the statutory rape of his stepdaughter. Immediately following the alleged offense, the victim had signed a statement accusing the defendant of the crime charged. Before the trial, however, the district attorney was advised by the defense counsel, and by the victim herself, that the written statement was not true. At the trial, when called as a witness by the commonwealth, the girl repudiated her earlier statement, whereupon the district attorney pleaded surprise and was permitted to use the prior statement to impeach. On appeal, held, affirmed. The district attorney was "actually surprised" when the …

Evidence - Search And Seizure - Standing To Suppress Evidence Obtained By Unconstitutional Search And Seizure, Robert C. Casad S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The most radical departure of the new California doctrine from federal precedents, however, lies in the rejection of the requirement of "standing" which the federal courts have always imposed. In People v. Martin the California court announced its willingness to permit any criminal defendant to move for the exclusion of evidence obtained by unreasonable search and seizure -regardless of whether it was his premises that were searched or his property that was seized.

Rejection of the requirement of standing by this outstanding court calls for a re-evaluation of the requirement as it is imposed in every other jurisdiction that observes …

Compelling The Testimony Of Political Deviants, O. John Rogge

Michigan Law Review

Besides the two specific problems which the new federal act presents, namely, whether it imposes nonjudicial functions on federal courts, and whether it should, does and can protect against the substantial danger of state prosecution, there is a general objection that one can raise against it, and to other acts of the same type: they relate to the area of belief and opinion, the very area which was involved when the English people, spearheaded by the Puritans, engaged in the struggle with the Crown that finally resulted in the establishment of a right of silence. At least if we are …

What Is This Thing Called Hearsay?, John W. Reed

Articles

This article is based on an address delivered at the 1956 Advocacy Institute at the University of Michigan. A re-examination of elementary principles, the discussion proceeds on the express assumption that much of the uncertainty and confusion in usa of the hearsay rule is unnecessary because it is due to failure to recall and employ these principles.

Compelling The Testimony Of Political Deviants, O. John Rogge

Michigan Law Review

At the last term the United States Supreme Court in Ullmann v. United States upheld the constitutionality of paragraph (c) of a federal act of August 1954 which seeks to compel the testimony of communists and other political deviants. Paragraph (c) relates to witnesses before federal courts and grand juries. The Court specifically left open the question of the validity of paragraphs (a) and (b) relating to congressional witnesses. Justice Frankfurter delivered the Court's opinion. Justice Douglas, with the concurrence of Justice Black, wrote a dissent.

It is our purpose to consider the background, history and terms of this compulsory …

Constitutional Law - Privilege Against Self-Incrimination -Effect Of Immunity Statute, Paul A. Heinen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was brought before a federal grand jury and questioned as to his and other persons' membership in the Communist Party. After petitioner refused to answer the questions on the ground that the answers would be self-incriminating and therefore his refusal was privileged under the Fifth Amendment, the United States attorney, proceeding under the provisions of the Immunity Act of 1954, filed an application in the United States district court requesting that petitioner be required to answer the questions. The district court, upholding the constitutionality of the act, ordered petitioner to answer the questions, and petitioner's appeal from this order …

Morgan: Some Problems Of Proof Under The Anglo-American System Of Litigation, Roy R. Ray

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Some Problems of Proof Under the Anglo-American System of Litigation. By Edmund Morris Morgan.

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 …

Social Scientists Take The Stand: A Review And Appraisal Of Their Testimony In Litigation, Jack Greenberg

Michigan Law Review

"How to inform the judicial mind, as you know, is one of the most complicated problems,'' said Justice Frankfurter during argument of the school segregation cases. And as law deals more and more with issues of great public consequence the judiciary's need for knowledge increases. Much of this knowledge is within the realm of what are called the social sciences.

Although jurisprudents and social scientists have long complained of a gulf between law and social science, little notice has been given to the recent, recurrent collaboration between the two at the trial level. In a variety of cases social scientists' …

Evidence - Admissibility - Extent To Which Juror's Affidavit May Be Used To Impeach Verdict, Herbert R. Brown S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and made a motion for a new trial on the basis of a juror's affidavit which asserted that the jury had been divided eight to four in favor of life imprisonment over the death sentence, that subsequently several jurors introduced into the deliberations the fact that the defendant had been charged, in another indictment, with assault with intent to kill, that this became a part of the jury's deliberation, and that, as a result, the jury did not recommend life imprisonment and, instead, the death sentence was imposed. On appeal, held …

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. …

Evidence-Hearsay-Admissibility Of Public Opinion Polls, John C. Hall S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Florida Supreme Court sustained the conviction of Irvin, a Negro, on a charge of rape, but the Supreme Court of the United States reversed and remanded the case. Defendant was granted a change of venue to Marion County, where he requested a second change of venue, claiming that the notoriety of his case had made him personally odious to the residents of Marion County. He attempted to introduce the results of a public opinion poll made by the Elmo Roper Research and Public Opinion Organization to support his claim. The field supervisor and the tabulator were called to testify …

Criminal Law - Trial - Duty Of Judge To Instruct On Lesser And Included Crimes, Paul A. Heinen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant was one of four defendants who were charged in three separate counts of an indictment with the crimes of attempted robbery in the first degree, attempted grand larceny in the first degree, and assault in the second degree with intent to commit robbery and grand larceny. After all the evidence had been entered, the trial judge submitted only the count of attempted robbery to the jury, instructing them that they return a verdict of guilty or not guilty of that crime. The defense excepted to the court's refusal to submit the other counts charged in the indictment. The defendant …

Criminal Procedure - Searches And Seizures - Admissibility Of Evidence Obtained Through Unlawful Search And Seizure, Neil Flanagin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants were prosecuted and convicted of conspiring to engage in horserace bookmaking and related offenses. The police had secured evidence of defendants' activities by concealing a listening device in premises occupied by them and also by unauthorized and forcible searches. The trial court admitted the evidence so obtained, notwithstanding the fact that the police action in securing it was clearly in violation of both federal and state constitutions and statutes. After conviction, the trial court denied defendants' motion for a new trial. On appeal, held, reversed, three justices dissenting. Evidence obtained in violation of the defendants' constitutional rights is …

Evidence - Physician - Patient Privilege - Applicability To Communication Between State Mental Hospital Psychiatrist And Criminal Internee, Norman A. Zilber S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was committed to a public mental hospital before standing trial on an indictment for robbery. One year later he was brought to trial after being discharged from the hospital as mentally competent. His only defense was insanity. The psychiatrist who had been appointed by the court to examine the defendant testified in support of this defense. The prosecution, in turn, introduced the testimony of the hospital psychiatrist who had attended the defendant during his internment. This psychiatrist was instructed by the trial court that communications between him and the defendant were not privileged. Accordingly, he testified that the defendant …

Torts - Master And Servant - Payment Of Social Security Tax As Evidence Of Relationship, Irving L. Halpern S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's decedent was killed when his tractor-truck collided with an automobile driven by defendant's salesman. In an action to recover damages for the death of decedent, the trial court submitted to the jury, as evidence bf a master-servant relationship, the payment of social security taxes by the defendant on behalf of the salesman. Judgment was rendered for the plaintiff. On appeal, held, the record of social security payments by defendant on behalf of its salesman was properly submitted to the jury as evidence of a master-servant relationship. Peetz v. Mazek Auto Supply Co., (Neb. 1955) 70 N.W. (2d) …

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 …

Judge And The Crime Burden, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

One does not happily charge the judiciary with responsibility for the country's burden of crime, but the responsibility does in fact exist. Judges, though they may not encourage crime, interfere with its prevention in various ways. They deliberately restrict police efficiency in the discovery of criminals. They exempt from punishment many criminals who are discovered and whose guilt is evident. More seriously still, they so warp and alter the public's attitude toward crime and criminals as gravely to weaken the country's most effective crime preventive.

Mccormick: Handbook Of The Law Of Evidence, Mason Ladd

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Handbook of the Law of Evidence. By Charles T. McCormick

Evidence - Spontaneous Declarations - Statement By Injured Party While On Way To Hospital, James Beatty S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs were injured in an automobile accident involving a car, driven by the defendant's decedent, and two oncoming trucks, one passing the other on a three lane highway. Twenty-five minutes after the accident a state police officer arrived and took the driver of the passing truck, who was severely burned and in terrific pain, to the hospital. En route and in response to the officer's inquiry, the driver stated that defendant had caused the accident by swerving to the wrong side of the road. The statement was admitted over defendant's objection that it was hearsay, and verdict was rendered for …

Criminal Law - Contradictory Statements Under Oath As Grounds For Perjury In The Federal Courts, Richard M. Adams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Perjury has frequently been described as one of the more difficult convictions to obtain, and the truth of this saying is no better illustrated than in the case of Harvey Matusow. During the two years in which ex-Communist Matusow served as a professional government witness, he accused 180 or more persons as being members of the Communist Party or Communist sympathizers. This same witness has now described himself as a "habitual and perpetual liar" and has publicly admitted that all of his previous testimony was false. On the strength of this recantation, motions were filed for a new trial in …

Criminal Law - Scope Of Lawful Search And Seizure Without Warrant When Incident To Arrest, Richard M. Adams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Acting on information that defendants were engaged in the "numbers racket" in violation of the Michigan gambling laws, police officers picked up three of the defendants in an automobile, took them to the police station, and proceeded to the home of their accomplice, Abbey Clay. On being admitted to the residence, the officers placed Abbey Clay under arrest and, despite her objections, promptly searched the L-shaped room in which they were standing when the arrest was made. Although the officers did not have a search warrant, they looked through defendant's pocketbook, magazine rack, and a cardboard box which was in …

Evidence - Privilege - Maintaining Action Where The Evidence May Affect The National Security, John F. Dodge, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff brought an action for the breach of a contract for the manufacture of certain arming mechanisms for the use of the United States Army. The defendant moved to dismiss the action on the grounds that the contract in question was classified as confidential by the army and that the disclosures of certain facts asserted to be material in the prosecution and defense of the action would be a violation of the Federal Espionage Laws. Held, motion denied. The court should invoke every proper judicial technique to keep state secrets unrevealed, but it should not dismiss a valid …

Morgan: Basic Problems Of Evidence, Alfred L. Gausewitz

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Basic Problems of Evidence. By Edmund M. Morgan.

Constitutional Law - Right To Effective Assistance Of Counsel In Federal Courts And Waiver Thereof, Richard M. Adams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Indicted for illegal traffic in narcotics, petitioner and his trial counsel allegedly attempted to fabricate an alibi on the false testimony of petitioner's girl friend. The evidence indicated that on several occasions before trial, the girl was invited to the office of petitioner's attorney, given narcotics, and told to memorize certain false testimony to be used in petitioner's defense. Later the girl bad a change of mind and agreed to testify for the government Despite the strenuous objections of defendant's counsel, a description of this alleged fraud on the court was given in the prosecution's opening statement, and the witness …