Evidence Commons^™

Daubert's Backwash: Litigation-Generated Science, William L. Anderson, Barry M. Parsons, Drummond Rennie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the 1993 landmark case Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, the United States Supreme Court articulated its position on the admissibility of scientific evidence. The Court reasoned that federal judges should rely on the processes scientists use to identify unreliable research, including the process of peer review, to determine when scientific evidence should be inadmissible. In response, lawyers and their clients, seeking to rely on such evidence, have begun funding and publishing their own research with the primary intention of providing support to cases they are litigating. This Article examines the phenomenon of litigation-generated science, how it potentially undermines …

Title Vii Quid Pro Quo And Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment Claims: Changing The Legal Framework Courts Use To Determine Whether Challenged Conduct Is Unwelcome, Elsie Mata

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In examining the nature of sexual harassment claims, the author challenges the use of the "unwelcomeness" element to distinguish actionable conduct from nonactionable conduct. The author contends that the "unwelcomeness" element demeans women in two ways: (1) it assumes the male perspective and presumes that the plaintiff appreciated the challenged conduct unless she proves otherwise; and (2) it allows the defense to engage in intrusive, irrelevant, and damaging inquiries as it attempts to refute the plaintiff's allegation that the challenged conduct was unwelcome.

The author argues for three reforms. First, courts should shift the burden of proving that the challenged …

"Whodunit" Versus "What Was Done": When To Admit Character Evidence In Criminal Cases, Sherry F. Colb

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In virtually every jurisdiction in the United States, the law of evidence prohibits parties from offering proof of an individual's general character traits to suggest that, on a specific occasion, the individual behaved in a manner consistent with those traits. In a criminal trial in particular, the law prohibits a prosecutor's introduction of evidence about the defendant's character as proof of his guilt. In this Article, Professor Colb proposes that the exclusion of defendant character evidence is appropriate in one category of cases but inappropriate in another. In the first category, which Professor Colb calls "whodunit" cases, the parties agree …

Dna Typing: Emerging Or Neglected Issues, Edward J. Imwinkelried, D.H. Kaye

Washington Law Review

DNA typing has had a major impact on the criminal justice system. There are hundreds of opinions and thousands of cases dealing with DNA evidence. Yet, at virtually every stage of the process, there are important issues that are just emerging or that have been neglected. At the investigative stage, courts have barely begun to focus on the legal limitations on the power of the police to obtain samples directly from suspects and to use the data from DNA samples in various ways. Issues such as the propriety of "DNA dragnets" (in which large numbers of individuals in a geographic …

Of Two Wrongs That Make A Right: Two Paradoxes Of The Evidence Law And Their Combined Economic Justification, Alex Stein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Cowboy Prosecutors And Subpoenas For Incriminating Evidence: The Consequences And Correction Of Excess, Robert P. Mosteller

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Compelled Dna Testing In Rape Cases: Illustrating The Necessity Of An Exception To The Self-Incrimination Clause, Stephanie A. Parks

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Conjunction And Aggregation, Saul Levmore

Michigan Law Review

This Article begins with the puzzle of why the law avoids the issue of conjunctive probability. Mathematically inclined observers might, for example, employ the "product rule," multiplying the probabilities associated with several events or requirements in order to assess a combined likelihood, but judges and lawyers seem otherwise inclined. Courts and statutes might be explicit about the manner in which multiple requirements should be combined, but they are not. Thus, it is often unclear whether a factfinder should assess if condition A was more likely than not to be present - and then go on to see whether condition B …

Post-Trilogy Science In The Courtroom: What Are The Judges Doing?, Lewis H. Larue, David S. Caudill

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

Voluntary Intoxication In Florida: Public Policy Versus Due Process And Why Florida's Intoxication Statute Cannot Withstand A Constitutional Challenge, Michael L. Elkins

St. Thomas Law Review

This comment examines the substance of the opinions in Egelhoff and juxtaposes the Florida statutory scheme against the proper constitutional analysis. The Egelhoff majority has done little to provide a workable constitutional backdrop from which other state statutes banning evidence of voluntary intoxication may be categorized. Part II of this comment provides the historical background for the voluntary intoxication defense. Part I initially examines the factual and legal background of the Egelhoff case as set forth by the Montana Supreme Court. Part IV then provides an analysis of the opinions authored by the United States Supreme Court. This section will …

Personal Reflections On The Reliability Of Jury Verdicts, Sam Reese Sheppard

Cleveland State Law Review

The symposium presentation given by Dr. Sheppard’s son discussed the impact of the trial on his entire family, as well as the idea of a failed trial. He went through the different juries encountered by his father. He also listed his hopes for the symposium: “What would I hope to come out of a conference like this? First, selfishly, I would hope that it would help us with our new legal endeavor. Second, I hope that we can contribute to serious legal work that deals on realistic and dignified grounds on the problem, both federally and statewide, of wrongful incarceration. …

Comments: Taking Remedial Measures To Amend Maryland Rule Of Evidence 5-407 To Explicitly Apply To Products Liability Actions, Jaime A. Walker

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Uniform Rules Of Evidence (1999), C. Arlen Beam, Leo H. Whinery

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Mental Health Provider Privilege In The Wake Of Jaffe V. Redmond, Robert H. Aronson

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hair Comparison Evidence, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Character Evidence, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Other Acts” Evidence: Part Ii, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Scientific Evidence In Civil And Criminal Cases, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Naturalized Epistemology And The Critique Of Evidence Theory, Dale A. Nance

Faculty Publications

In this article I give a mixed review Allen and Leiter’s naturalized epistemology theory of evidence. I applaud their focus on naturalized epistemology, but I question the claims that they argue follow from it. In some ways, my reaction is that they have not gone far enough in pressing its implications, and I attempt to suggest how further progress might be made along this path. On the whole, I conclude that the antipathy toward algrithms expressed by Allen and Leiter is misplaced.

Why Miranda Does Not Prevent Confessions: Some Lessons From Albert Camus, Arthur Miller And Oprah Winfrey, 51 Syracuse L. Rev. 863 (2001), Timothy P. O'Neill

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Causation In Toxic Tort Litigation: Which Way Do We Go, Judge, Laurie Alberts

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Gatekeeping Stress: The Science And Admissibility Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Edgar Garcia-Rill, Erica Beecher-Monas

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Scientific Evidence And The Ethical Obligations Of Attorneys, Michael J. Saks

Cleveland State Law Review

This article considers the question: "What are the legal and ethical responsibilities of attorneys when offering scientific expert evidence to courts?" To a lesser extent it considers the responsibilities of attorneys to challenge such evidence when proffered and the ethical dimensions of the working relationship of lawyers and experts. Although the most prominent discussions of such issues have concerned so-called junk science in civil trials, the legal context upon which this article will focus is the criminal trial, where dubious science is more common, less questioned, and has even become institutionalized. The rules and practices of civil cases are provided …

Are Forensic Locksmiths Really Qualified To Testify As Experts In Cases Of Insurance Fraud: An Examination Of The Admissibility Of Forensic Locksmith Opinions Under Rule 702, Chad A. Hester

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note will argue that while forensic locksmiths may be qualified as experts under Rule 702, they should not necessarily be qualified to testify as to which key started a vehicle last. Part I of this note will discuss the basic history and case law which has established the requirements necessary to qualify an expert to testify under the Rule 702. In addition, Part I will discuss the recently enacted amendments to Rule 702 and how the amended Rule 702 has expanded the admissibility of expert witnesses. Part II of this note will discuss the generally accepted procedures of forensic …

Using Evidence Of Women's Stories In Sexual Harassment Cases, Theresa M. Beiner

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Dynamics Of Daubert: Methodology, Conclusions, And Fit In Statistical And Econometric Studies, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

This paper reviews the development of the law governing the admissibility of statistical studies. It analyzes the leading cases on scientific evidence and suggests that both the "reliability" and the "general acceptance" standards raise two major difficulties - the "boundary problem" of identifying the type of evidence that warrants careful screening and the "usurpation problem" of keeping the trial judge from closing the gate on evidence that should be left for the jury to assess.

The paper proposes partial solutions to these problems, and it applies them to statistical and econometric proof, particularly in the context of a recent antitrust …

Domestic Violence: Competing Conceptions Of Equality In The Law Of Evidence, Erica Beecher-Monas

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Two Fallacies About Dna Data Banks For Law Enforcement, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

This commentary on the article Legal and Policy Issues in Expanding the Scope of Law Enforcement DNA Data Banks, 67 Brook. L. Rev. 127 (2001), by Mark Rothstein and Sandra Carnahan, argues that the case for confining law enforcement DNA databases to noncoding loci and to samples from individuals convicted of violent crimes is quite weak.

It describes alternative approaches, including the possibility of a population-wide database; the privacy implications of the loci now used in forensic identification; the law governing DNA dragnets; and the limits on DNA databases imposed by recent cases on searches and seizures. It notes the …

The Constitutionality Of Dna Sampling On Arrest, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

Every state now collects DNA from people convicted of certain offenses. Law enforcement authorities promote offender DNA databanking on the theory that it will identify offenders who commit additional crimes while or probation or parole, or after they have finished serving their sentences. Even relatively small databases have yielded such dividends. As these database searches uncover the perpetrators of rapes, murders, and other offenses, the pressure builds to expand the coverage of the databases.

Recent proposals call for extending not merely the scope of crimes for which DNA databanking would be used, but also the point at which the samples …

E' Is For Eclectic: Multiple Perspectives On Evidence (Symposium: New Perspectives On Evidence), Richard D. Friedman

Articles

A conference titled "New Perspectives on Evidence: Experts, Empirical Study and Economics" has a pronounced alliterative theme, a theme made even more apparent when, inevitably in evidentiary discourse, epistemological questions come to the fore. It is enough to make one suspect that the conference is secretly brought to you by the letter "E," hiding behind its public front, the Olin Foundation. Putting aside such conspiratorial thoughts, all these "E's" suggest the presence of a meta-"E"-Eclecticism. Indeed, I believe this conference has demonstrated the need for an eclectic approach to evidentiary problems. That should be no surprise. The domain of evidentiary …