Evidence Commons^™

Procedure And Evidence -- 1954 Tennessee Survey, Edmund M. Morgan

Vanderbilt Law Review

Generally: The strict rules of pleading are not applicable in a will contest,' which is a proceeding sui generis and regulated by statute. Demurrer. A demurrer to a cross-bill in chancery on the ground that it "states no cause of action upon which relief can be granted" is a nullity, and should be stricken on motion.

Plea in Abatement: Where the chancellor upon hearing a plea inabatement of another action pending for the same cause, found that the cause was substantially the same, and granted plaintiff permission to file the bill in the later suit as an amended or supplemental …

Criminal Law And Procedure -- 1954 Tennessee Survey, Clyde L. Ball

Vanderbilt Law Review

Most of the criminal law cases in the Tennessee courts during the past year have dealt with matters of procedure. The basic principles derived from these cases are treated in the Procedure and Evidence article of this 1954 Survey.' However, those cases of especial interest and significance will be considered here in somewhat greater detail. In addition to procedural matters there were a few cases which turned on concepts basic in the substantive law of crimes.

Substantive Law

Homicide: Tennessee has enunciated and followed a rule which states that driving an automobile while intoxicated is an act malum in se, …

Criminal Law--Principal In Second Degree--Conviction Of Attempt, R. L. Dep.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evidence--Obtained By Unlawful Search--Admissibility To Discredit Defendant's Testimony, C. F. S. Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rule 43(A) And The Communication Privileged Understate Law: An Analysis Of Confusion, George W. Pugh

Vanderbilt Law Review

What rules govern the admissibility of evidence in federal court? Rule 43 (a) purports to provide the answer with respect to cases falling within the ambit of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.' Is the Rule working satisfactorily, or should it now be abandoned in favor of a new and different solution? The problem thus presented is broad and pervasive. A definitive answer will not be attempted in this paper. Instead, the writer proposes to give only a general discussion of the broader aspects of the Rule, and to limit analysis of the cases to a very restricted area--the meaning …

Hearsay And Conspiracy: A Reexamination Of The Co-Conspirators' Exception To The Hearsay Rule, Joseph H. Levie

Michigan Law Review

The expansion of the law of conspiracy and the increasing number of prosecutions for its violation have been much commented on lately. Many kinds of anti-social conduct directed principally against the public welfare are now frequently punished by prosecution for conspiracy instead of prosecution for the substantive offense. Conspiracy is an ideal way to deal with organized crime and has been used extensively against quasi-treasonous activities. Similarly the Sherman Act's criminal sanctions are primarily couched in terms of conspiracy and the civil conspiracy action for divestiture or dissolution is the usual method of enforcing the antitrust laws. This emphasis on …

The Admissibility Of Parol Evidence To Establish Boundaries, Todd Duval, Julia Willis

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Evidence - Admissibility Of Confessions, John Getreu

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Evidence-Privilege-Right Of Third Person To Assert Privilege As To Accident Report Made Confidential By Statute, Richard W. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for injuries sustained when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with that operated by the defendant. Defendant questioned a police officer, who had filed the accident report, concerning statements made to him by the driver of the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding. The trial court permitted this testimony over the plaintiff's objection that these statements were privileged under an Iowa statute purporting to make written accident reports confidential and inadmissible in evidence. On appeal after a verdict was returned in favor of the defendant, held, reversed. The statute can …

Evidence, Sally Campbell, Joan Smith, Thomas J. Brennan

Washington Law Review

Covers cases on witnesses in determining the competency of insane persons, on relevancy of facts of arrest in civil suits, on the plaintiff's criminal record and its admissibility to limit claims to damages for unemployment, on the competency of interested party witnesses and time when interest is to be determined, on the relevancy of the fact of no insurance (Campbell), on the admission of certified copies of foreign divorce decrees (Smith), on the liberal construction of the Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act, on the attorney-client privilege when communications are made in the presence of two or more interested persons, …

Evidence-Privilege-Use Of Privileged Accident Report To Refresh Officer's Recollection, David D. Dowd, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a passenger in an automobile, recovered a judgment for injuries received in a collision. Defendants' motion to exclude testimony of the police officer investigating the accident as to admissions of the driver was overruled by the trial court. Defendants contended that the required accident report filed by the defendant driver was privileged by statute, and therefore the testimony of the officer was inadmissible. On appeal, held, reversed on other grounds. It was proper for the officer to testify as to the defendant driver's admissions even if it was necessary for him to refresh his recollection of these admissions …

Incompetent Evidence In Nonjury Trials: Ought We Presume That It Has No Effect?

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

A Commentary on Recent Case Law --By Subject:

Constitutional Law--Due Process--Use in State Prosecution of Evidence obtained by Illegal Invasion of Privacy

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Constitutional Law--Unlawful Search and Seizure--Admissibility of Evidence for Impeachment Purposes

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Evidence--Radar Evidence of Speed--Coincidence of Radar and Speedometer Readings as Hearsay

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Federal Courts--State NonResident Motorist Statute--Waiver of Federal Venue Privilege

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Federal Jurisdiction--Diversity of Citizenship--Retroactive Effect of Amendments to Perfect Jurisdiction

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Income Taxation--Deductions--Periodic Alimony Payments

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Labor Law--Preemptive Effect of Taft-Hartley--Scope of State Jurisdiction

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Torts--Dog Bite--Owner's Scienter

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Workmen's Compensation--Accident Arising out of Employment--Pre-Existing Heart Disease

Spontaneous Declarations, Thomas P. Hardman

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evidence - Restrictive Interpretations Of Statute Intended To Liberalize Admission Of Statements By Persons Since Decesed, Richard W. Young

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, while driving an automobile, struck the plaintiff's decedent, a pedestrian, causing injuries which ultimately resulted in her death. An action was brought by the plaintiff as administrator of the estate under a statute giving the right to recover for wrongful death. It was contended that statements made by the deceased to members of her family in the hospital one to two weeks after the injury, such as ''If she had stayed on her own side of the road, she'd never hit me," were admissible under a South Dakota statute purporting to make statements of deceased persons receivable in actions …

Contributory Negligence Of Children - Miller V. Graff

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Control Over Use Of Coerced Confessions In State Criminal Cases-Some Unsettled Problems, Austin W. Scott Jr.

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Evidence--Prior Conviction--Impeachment And Rehabilitation, George B. Baker Jr.

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Coerced Confessions And The Stein Case, Marvin O. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Stein v. People of State of New York, a coerced confession case decided by the Supreme Court last June, at first suggests some rather startling propositions about the effect of a denial of procedural due process. Since Brown v. Mississippi in 1936 it has been well settled that the admission of a coerced confession into evidence in a state criminal proceeding contravenes the due process guaranty of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the confession cases subsequently considered by the Supreme Court it has been consistently held that the admission of an extorted confession vitiates the entire proceeding and renders the …

Evidence - Wiretapping And The Congress, Richard W. Pogue S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The familiar cry that "there ought to be a law" is frequently raised concerning the practice which Justice Holmes long ago characterized as "dirty business" - the tapping of telephone wires. Although existing legislation on both federal and state levels deals with interception of telephone messages, the almost universal conclusion of commentators on the subject has been that many of the present day statutes are inadequate. It is particularly apparent that the famous section 605 of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 has long been in need of replacement or thorough revision. The purpose of this comment is to examine …

Admissibility Of Testimony Of Skidmarks Seen After The Accident - Williams V. Graff

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Suport Of The Thayer Theory Of Presumptions, Charles V. Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

A learned judge once said to a young lawyer, "If you are ever a trial court judge, never give reasons for your decisions. Your rulings will probably be right, but your reasons will likely be wrong." That statement may aptly apply to judicial pronouncements relating to the subject of presumptions. Decisions are largely free from criticism so far as concerns the results reached, but the reasoning processes by which they are reached appear to be in hopeless confusion. It is believed that a theory can be presented which will both reconcile these confusions of judicial techniques and explain the general …

Evidence--Admissibility Of The Results Of Blood Tests In Bastardy Proceedings, G. M. S.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Negligence - Proving Inviter's Breach Of Duty By Circumstantial Evidence, Charles E. Oldfather S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for personal injuries suffered when she slipped on a spot of grease in the driveway of defendant's railroad station. The evidence showed that the spot was at least one foot square and was covered with dust and dirt so that it resembled in color and texture the rest of the pavement. The evidence also indicated that vehicles often drove through and parked in the drive, and that there were no marks on the spot other than a deep skid mark left by plaintiff's heel. The trial court allowed the jury to determine from this evidence …

Civil Procedure - Compensation Of Witnesses In A Civil Action, David W. Belin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

As the amount and complexity of litigation has increased, there have been corresponding increases in demands for added compensation of witnesses. Like the juror, the witness often receives the time-honored answer that he cannot be heard to complain that his compensation is inadequate; the administration of justice is a mutual benefit to all members of the community, and each is under a public duty to further it.

At common law witnesses received no compensation. Time spent in testifying was held to be claimed by the public as a tax, paid by the witness to the system of law which protected …

Bills And Notes, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Parol Evidence Rule as Applied to Bills and Notes. The Tennessee Supreme Court case of Lazarov v. Klyce' presented the problem of when an agent who has signed a negotiable instrument can use parol evidence to exonerate himself from personal liability on the instrumentat the suit of the payee. The payee of a note sued the defendant, Arnold Klyce, to hold him individually liable on the note of a corporation of which defendant was an officer. The defense was that the note was an obligation of the corporation, that defendant signed as an officer of the corporation and that …

Evidence, John W. Richards

Washington Law Review

Covers the Uniform Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records as Evidence Act.

Evidence—Patient Physician Privilege—Waiver Of Privilege To One Physician As Waiver To Other Physician—Waiver By Patient's Own Testimony, James F. Mcateer

Washington Law Review

P sought recovery for injuries arising out of an automobile accident. During trial P introduced three physicians who testified that P had suffered disability in his right arm involving weakness, numbness, and difficulty of movement. P himself took the stand and testified that the injuries described by his doctors resulted from the accident and that, prior to the accident, he had not consulted a doctor for "years." The jury returned a verdict for P for $21,000. The trial court granted D a new trial on the issue of damages because of newly discovered evidence consisting of another physician who would …

Evidence—Cross Examination Of Defendant's Character Witness—Scope, Michael Mines

Washington Law Review

D was convicted of second degree burglary. During the cross examination of three character witnesses for the defense, the prosecuting attorney asked, over the objections of the defense, the following questions: "Did you know that in 1941 D had is operator's license suspended?", "Did you know that D spent twelve days in jail and was fined twenty-five dollars for drunkenness on January 10, 1949?" and "Did you know D was given twenty days for vagrancy in the city jail of Walla Walla?" Held: The form of the questions was proper as long as it was not for the purpose of …

Procedure And Evidence, Edmund M. Morgan

Vanderbilt Law Review

Demurrer: The Tennessee cases reiterate the orthodox proposition that a demurrer admits the facts alleged or averred in the pleading to which it is interposed.' It is perhaps unnecessary to note that this proposition is true only when the problem concerns the sufficiency of the allegations or averments in the pleading. In truth, the demurrer is merely a default as to the facts and a tender of issue on the law. If the demurrer is overruled and the action is for unliquidated damages, the plaintiff's averment as to the amount of the damages is not taken as true; he must …