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Articles 481 - 510 of 840

Full-Text Articles in Evidence

Constitutional Law-Due Process Of Law-Admissibility Of Confessions Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Harold G. Christensen S.Ed. Feb 1952

Constitutional Law-Due Process Of Law-Admissibility Of Confessions Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Harold G. Christensen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court announced in 1936 that under certain circumstances the admission of a confession into evidence by a state court could amount to a denial of due process as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Since that time there has been an increasing number of appeals seeking reversal of a conviction upon that ground and an expansion by the Court of the types of factual situations which will render a confession inadmissible. That this expansion reached its apex with the case of Watts v. Indiana and companion cases decided in 1949 appears probable in the light of a recent denial …

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Evidence-The Use Of Blood Grouping Tests In Disputed Parentage Proceedings-A Scientific Basis For Discussion, Lewis R. Williams, Jr. S.Ed. Feb 1952

Evidence-The Use Of Blood Grouping Tests In Disputed Parentage Proceedings-A Scientific Basis For Discussion, Lewis R. Williams, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Much has been written concerning the validity of the so-called "blood-grouping tests" in bastardy and other legal proceedings. The general tenor of the writings is in favor of wider acceptance by the courts of the results of these tests. This comment is to be no exception. However, it is the purpose here to emphasize the scientific validity of the blood-grouping tests and to acquaint the reader with the theory upon which the tests rest. If lawyers and judges understand the scientific basis of the tests, a more intelligent decision upon the validity of any given result can be formed, and …

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Evidence-Privileged Communication-Extension Of The Privilege To Communication Involving Agents, C. J. Rice S. Ed. Dec 1951

Evidence-Privileged Communication-Extension Of The Privilege To Communication Involving Agents, C. J. Rice S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Within certain limitations, the law immunizes confidential communications made to an attorney, spouse or physician from compulsory disclosure at subsequent judicial proceedings. Frequently, as in the above hypothetical situations, the subject matter of a communication is voluntarily disclosed to a third person for transmittal to the ultimately intended recipient. The third person may be the agent of either of the primary parties. Does this disclosure remove it from the privileged classification, notwithstanding the fact that the parties may still have intended the information to be confidential? It is the purpose of this comment, first, to examine the extent to which …

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Evidence-Admissibility Of Uncommunicated Threats, Thomas Hartwell S. Ed. Jun 1951

Evidence-Admissibility Of Uncommunicated Threats, Thomas Hartwell S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree, following his killing of one Hunter as the outcome of a quarrel. The defendant had pleaded self-defense, contending that Hunter had appeared to threaten him. The defendant was the only witness to testify as to any aggression on the part of Hunter, while the four eyewitnesses to the killing all testified that the accused had attacked Hunter without warning and had fired upon Hunter's wife and child. Defendant's motion for new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence showing that Hunter had in his pocket an open knife, which …

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Practice And Procedure-Trial Practice-Juror Affidavits, Paul M.D. Harrison S. Ed. Mar 1951

Practice And Procedure-Trial Practice-Juror Affidavits, Paul M.D. Harrison S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The jury, in an action for trespass, returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and thereafter separated after being dismissed by the court. Subsequently, a juror reported to the court that the verdict as returned did not express the actual agreement of the jury. Five days after dismissal the jury was recalled and, upon being polled, unanimously agreed that the verdict as returned did not represent the actual agreement of the jury due to an error in computation. The jury was sent back to the jury room under instructions to refigure the verdict only upon evidence already presented in …

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Evidence-Probative Value Of Inferences From Failure To Call A Witness, Cleaveland J. Rice S.Ed. Dec 1950

Evidence-Probative Value Of Inferences From Failure To Call A Witness, Cleaveland J. Rice S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

lnsured sued to recover sickness benefits under an insurance policy. The defense was that the insured was not in good health when the policy was issued. The only evidence introduced by the defendant insurance company was plaintiff's refusal to consent to taking the deposition of an examining hospital physician. Defendant's request for a directed verdict on the issue of good health was refused. After being instructed that from the refusal to permit taking of the deposition they might "presume that such evidence . . . would operate against plaintiff and be against his interest in this suit," the jury returned …

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Administrative Law-Hearing On Questions Of Law As A Requirement For Due Process Jun 1950

Administrative Law-Hearing On Questions Of Law As A Requirement For Due Process

Michigan Law Review

The Federal Communications Commission granted a permit for a radio station to the Coastal Plains Broadcasting Company. WJR, not a party to that proceeding, filed a petition for reconsideration and hearing, alleging, inter alia, that the new station would cause objectionable interference with WJR. Coastal Plains entered an opposition, asserting that the petition, on its face, was legally insufficient to make WJR a party. WJR did not respond. The commission, without oral argument, denied the application, holding that there was no objectionable interference. The court of appeals treated this as equivalent to a holding as a matter of law, essentially …

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Criminal Law-Proof Of The Corpus Delicti By The Use Of Extra-Judicial Confessions, Theodore Sachs Jun 1950

Criminal Law-Proof Of The Corpus Delicti By The Use Of Extra-Judicial Confessions, Theodore Sachs

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a physician, was accused of the murder of his cancer-ridden patient by the injection of 40 c.c. of air into a vein of the patient's arm shortly before her death. The defendant had noted on the patient's medical chart the fact of the injection and that of her death, apparently a few minutes later. He subsequently dictated the same facts to his nurse, and later made similar admissions to local enforcement authorities and others making such statements on the day of his arrest and immediately thereafter. At the trial, a pathologist, called as an expert witness on behalf of …

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Criminal Law-Indictment And Information-Variance Between Allegation And Proof, Daniel A. Isaacson S.Ed. May 1950

Criminal Law-Indictment And Information-Variance Between Allegation And Proof, Daniel A. Isaacson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In a Texas prosecution for drunken driving, the complaint and information charged that the defendant " . . . on or about the 11th day of April, A.D. 1948 . . . did then and there unlawfully while intoxicated and while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, drive a motor vehicle . . . upon a public highway within said county, to-wit: U.S. Highway #108 about two miles north of the City of Stephenville, Texas .... " Upon conviction, defendant appealed, one ground being that the State had introduced evidence to the effect that he drove his automobile on Highway …

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Wills-Interference With Revocation-Constructive Trust, John S. Yates May 1950

Wills-Interference With Revocation-Constructive Trust, John S. Yates

Michigan Law Review

The complaint alleged that testatrix who had executed a will leaving her whole estate to defendants attempted to make a new will containing legacies to plaintiffs, but that by means of misrepresentations, undue influence, force, and murder, testatrix was prevented by defendants from signing the new will. On appeal from dismissal of the complaint for insufficiency, held, reversed. If the allegations of the complaint be taken as true, plaintiffs are entitled to a judicial declaration that defendants hold the property under a constructive trust for plaintiffs. Latham v. Father Divine, 299 N.Y. 22, 85 N.E. (2d) 168 (1949).

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Trial-Evidence-What May Jury Take To Jury Room To Aid In Deliberation, Richard B. Gushée S.Ed. Mar 1950

Trial-Evidence-What May Jury Take To Jury Room To Aid In Deliberation, Richard B. Gushée S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Upon the trial of a case under the Texas Workmen's Compensation Act, X-ray photographs, properly authenticated, were introduced in evidence by both parties to the suit. After retiring to deliberate, the jury requested that the X-ray pictures be sent to the jury room for their examination and consideration. This request was granted. Appellant objected on the ground that the pictures were technical and could not be understood by the jury without interpretation. On appeal, held, affirmed. X-ray photographs are "written evidence" and come within the provisions of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure which provide that the jury may …

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Origin And Development Of The Directed Verdict, William Wirt Blume Mar 1950

Origin And Development Of The Directed Verdict, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States have aroused a new interest in the familiar motion for a directed verdict. In this discussion the writer will undertake a brief examination of the antecedents of the motion, and then will trace its short but significant history.

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Alternative Pleading: Ii, Roy W. Mcdonald Feb 1950

Alternative Pleading: Ii, Roy W. Mcdonald

Michigan Law Review

In any save the most elementary of litigation, the practicing lawyer frequently encounters difficulty in estimating with confidence, in advance of the trial, what precise fact propositions may be established by the evidence. As a result, he desires to preserve for himself the maximum area in which to maneuver as the testimony unfolds. One device for assuring such flexibility is the use of alternative pleading. The present series of articles undertakes to depict the extent to which the pressure of this common professional experience is reflected in our civil practice.

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Evidence-Status Of Microfilmed Business Records, William P. Sutter S. Ed. Feb 1950

Evidence-Status Of Microfilmed Business Records, William P. Sutter S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Many businesses today are turning to microfilm to record their essential papers in an effort to achieve ease and economy of operation through a reduction in storage requirements. Sixteen hundred pages of letter-press, transcripts or manuscripts can be reproduced on 100 feet of 35 mm. film to make a roll three inches in diameter. This is the equivalent of four thousand sheets of standard foolscap paper. Further illustrating the space savings is the fact that, on an average, the contents of 120 four-drawer file cabinets can be condensed into a single file cabinet and still leave some room for expansion. …

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Constitutional Law-Due Process-Use Of Extraneous Evidence In Determining Criminal Sentence, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr. S. Ed. Feb 1950

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Use Of Extraneous Evidence In Determining Criminal Sentence, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr. S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree with a recommendation for life imprisonment. In reliance on police and probation reports showing petitioner's background which included over thirty burglaries for which he had never been arraigned and a "morbid sexuality," the trial judge disregarded the jury's recommendation and imposed the death sentence. Although petitioner did not have an opportunity to examine the reports prior to the sentence hearing, he was represented by counsel at the hearing and did not challenge them at that time. Petitioner contended that he had been denied due process of law because his sentence had …

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Negligence-Proof Of Causation, Walter Dean Feb 1950

Negligence-Proof Of Causation, Walter Dean

Michigan Law Review

Decedent, a passenger on defendant's railroad was bound for X Terminal. The car doors were open and a trainman called out, "X Terminal, next," but the train stopped in the dark at point Y before reaching the announced destination to allow another train to pass. Decedent's body was found near point Y. Suit was brought by decedent's widow under the state "wrongful death" statutes. The lower court held that the plaintiff's failure to show that decedent left the train at point Y was a fatal gap in the causal chain, and gave judgment for the defendant notwithstanding the …

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Witnesses-Wife As Witness Against Husband In Prosecution Under Mann Act, James F. Gordy S. Ed. Feb 1950

Witnesses-Wife As Witness Against Husband In Prosecution Under Mann Act, James F. Gordy S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of having transported his wife in interstate commerce for the purpose of prostitution in violation of the White Slave Traffic Act. Defendant's wife testified to the various transportations which defendant had made of her and to her practicing of prostitution at their different destinations. Defendant contended that the trial court erred in permitting his wife, over his objection, to testify against him. On appeal, held, affirmed. So far as appellant's rights were concerned, the wife's testimony was competent evidence against him. Shores v. United States, (8th Cir. 1949) 174 F. (2d) 838.

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Constitutional Law-Due Process Of Law-Freedom From Unreasonable Search And Seizure-The Admissibility Of Illegally Seized Evidence, Bernard Goldstone S.Ed. Nov 1949

Constitutional Law-Due Process Of Law-Freedom From Unreasonable Search And Seizure-The Admissibility Of Illegally Seized Evidence, Bernard Goldstone S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Local police officers entered the private office of petitioner, a practising physician, without a warrant and seized his private books and records. As a result of the information thus obtained, petitioner was convicted of conspiracy to perform an abortion. Petitioner claimed that his constitutional rights were invaded contending that due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment includes freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and prevents the admission of illegally seized evidence, but this was denied by the Supreme Court of Colorado and the conviction was affirmed. On certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States, held, affirmed, …

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Acquisition Of Evidence By Search And Seizure, Mary Louise Ramsey Jun 1949

Acquisition Of Evidence By Search And Seizure, Mary Louise Ramsey

Michigan Law Review

What protection do the Fourth and Fifth Amendments afford against acquisition of evidence by search and seizure, actual or constructive? Does an individual have a constitutional privilege against the disclosure of records he is required by law to keep? May police officers search premises on which an arrest is made and seize contraband which they find there? A series of cases recently decided by a closely divided Supreme Court has enveloped this field in the same deep fog of uncertainty which now hangs over so many other areas of constitutional law. The unstable quality of these precedents is attested by …

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Quasi-Contracts-Rescission For Fraud-Defrauding Vendee's Right To Recover For Improvements, G. B. Myers Jun 1949

Quasi-Contracts-Rescission For Fraud-Defrauding Vendee's Right To Recover For Improvements, G. B. Myers

Michigan Law Review

Defendant fraudulently obtained a conveyance of land from plaintiff and while in possession of the tract made repairs and improvements to a building thereon. Upon discovery of the fraud plaintiff sued in equity to cancel the deeds involved, and tendered into court the consideration received from defendant. The lower court cancelled the deeds, returning the consideration to defendant, but refused to admit defendant's evidence of repairs and improvements on the ground that equity will not allow a claim for the value of improvements when made by a defrauding party. Held, reversed in part. The evidence was admissible, and an …

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Streamlining Conveyancing Procedure, Paul E. Basye May 1949

Streamlining Conveyancing Procedure, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

The need for simplifying-even streamlining-conveyancing procedure has been all too well recognized for decades, but until the present decade relatively little progress toward a satisfactory system has been achieved. We have continued to labor under the handicaps of an inherited system which has become more cumbersome with each passing year. It is noteworthy, however, that several steps have been put into operation within recent years which have proved extremely fruitful and have, in certain limited areas, introduced thoroughgoing revisions in traditional practices. But in most states the far-reaching improvements necessary to an efficient, simple and fully comprehensive conveyancing system remain …

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Federal Courts-Detected Verdicts In Civil Actions, Zolman Cavitch May 1949

Federal Courts-Detected Verdicts In Civil Actions, Zolman Cavitch

Michigan Law Review

Juries must answer to questions of fact and judges to questions of law. This is the fundamental maxim acknowledged by the Constitution. When no fact question is present, no right to jury trial in a civil suit exists, and the constitutional guaranty is, therefore, not violated by the exercise of control by the court in keeping the jury to determination of questions of fact or in keeping it within the bounds of reason. One of the most important and often used methods of control is the directed verdict, whereby the court peremptorily instructs the jury to bring in a verdict …

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Evidence-Federal Criminal Procedure-Admissibility Of Confession Obtained During Illegal Detention, William F. Snyder S. Ed. May 1949

Evidence-Federal Criminal Procedure-Admissibility Of Confession Obtained During Illegal Detention, William F. Snyder S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was arrested without a warrant on suspicion of larceny. He was held without commitment for a period of thirty hours during which he was intermittently questioned but was not subjected to any form of physical coercion. At the end of this period, he signed a confession which was the basis for his conviction in the district court. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, following affirmation in the court of appeals, held, reversed. The detention was unlawful as a violation of rule 5 (a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the confession thus obtained was …

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Criminal Law-Procedure-Right Of Defendant To Inspect Grand Jury Minutes, L. W. Larson, Jr. Apr 1949

Criminal Law-Procedure-Right Of Defendant To Inspect Grand Jury Minutes, L. W. Larson, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was indicted for murder by a grand jury. The trial court denied a motion by defendant requesting that the district attorney be ordered to furnish him with a transcript of the evidence offered before the grand jury. On appeal, held, affirmed. It was within the discretion of the trial court to grant or refuse the motion. Commonwealth v. Galvin, (Mass. 1948) 80 N.E. (2d) 825.

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Evidence--Criminal Law--Cross-Examination Of Accused's Character Witness Concerning Accused's Prior Arrest, C. C. Grunewald S. Ed. Apr 1949

Evidence--Criminal Law--Cross-Examination Of Accused's Character Witness Concerning Accused's Prior Arrest, C. C. Grunewald S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

On trial in a district court for bribing a federal revenue agent, defendant called five witnesses to testify to his good reputation. During cross-examination by the district attorney, the character witnesses were asked: ''Did you ever hear that on October 11, 1920, the defendant was arrested for receiving stolen goods?" The trial judge overruled the objection to the question, and the witnesses answered in the negative. The prosecutor exhibited a paper record of this arrest to the court. The judge instructed the jury that the question was to test the standard of the character evidence only, not to establish the …

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Criminal Law-Evidence-Silence To Accusation While Under Arrest As Admission Of Guilt, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr. Mar 1949

Criminal Law-Evidence-Silence To Accusation While Under Arrest As Admission Of Guilt, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of murder. Before the victim died, defendant, handcuffed and in custody of police, had been taken to the hospital room where the victim lay. Eight witnesses were present at the time, and each testified that the victim pointed out the defendant as her assailant. At the trial the witnesses were permitted to testify that when accused of the crime, defendant stood by silently, saying and doing nothing, although it also appeared that he had been told by the police chief to ''keep your mouth shut." The prosecution capitalized upon defendant's silence as an admission of guilt. On …

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Finders--Application Of Statute To Finder Of Stolen Non-Negotiable Bonds, William C. Gordon Mar 1949

Finders--Application Of Statute To Finder Of Stolen Non-Negotiable Bonds, William C. Gordon

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff found a box containing twenty registered $1000 United States bonds and other non-negotiable securities, which had been stolen from defendants. Plaintiff turned them over to the sheriff who returned them to defendants. The bonds were endorsed "Not Transferable" and were payable only to the owner named thereon. Defendants had promptly notified the United States Treasury of the theft, and by fulfilling certain requirements, could have obtained duplicate certificates and bonds. Plaintiff sued for a reward of ten per cent of the face value of the securities under an Iowa statute which provided for a reward of ten per cent …

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Negligence--Proximate Cause--Effect Of Non-Registration Of Automobile, Richard B. Gushée Feb 1949

Negligence--Proximate Cause--Effect Of Non-Registration Of Automobile, Richard B. Gushée

Michigan Law Review

Defendant X owned a non-registered automobile which was parked on a public way by defendant Y, an agent of X. The keys were left in the car in violation of a statute. Later in the same day the car was stolen. Plaintiff, a pedestrian, was injured by the thief's negligent operation of the car. In an action to recover for the injury, a verdict was directed for defendants. On appeal, held, affirmed. As a matter of law, defendant's action in allowing a non-registered automobile containing its keys to remain on a public way was not the proximate …

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Theory Of Pleading A Survey Including The Federal Rules, William Wirt Blume Jan 1949

Theory Of Pleading A Survey Including The Federal Rules, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

In an often-quoted report of a committee of the American Bar Association, Roscoe Pound stated: "Pleadings have four purposes: (1) The first is to serve as a formal basis for the judgment. This is the oldest function, and one that goes back before the time of rational, as distinguished from purely mechanical trial of issues. . . . (2) Another is to separate issues of fact from questions of law .... (3) Another is to give litigants the advantage of a plea of res judicata if molested again for the same cause .... (4) Finally, pleadings exist to notify parties …

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Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right Of Accused To Writ Of Error Coram Nobis, Bernard L. Trott Jan 1949

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right Of Accused To Writ Of Error Coram Nobis, Bernard L. Trott

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a nineteen year old Negro, was convicted of rape in a circuit court of Alabama. The conviction, largely predicated on a confession made by petitioner on July 3, 1946, to the local police, was affirmed on April 24, 1947, by the Supreme Court of Alabama. This petition was subsequently initiated before the Alabama Supreme Court seeking an order granting permission to petition the trial court for a writ of error coram nobis. The request was accompanied by an allegation that petitioner's confession had been induced by mental and physical torture administered by the local police. At no time during …

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