Trial Evidence

In Evidence in International Criminal Trials Mark Klamberg compares procedural activities relevant for international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court, including evaluation, collection, disclosure, admissibility and presentation of evidence. The author analyses what objectives are recognized in relation to the aforementioned procedural activities and whether it is possible to establish a priority between them. The concept of “robustness” is introduced to discuss the quantity of evidence in addition to concepts that deal with quality. Finally, the exclusion of every reasonable hypothesis of innocence method is examined as one of several analytical steps that may contribute to the systematic evaluation of evidence. The book seeks to provide guidance on how to confront legal as well as factual issues.

At the core of being a trial lawyer is a working knowledge of the rules of evidence: how to get evidence admitted or kept out in a contested trial or hearing. Procedures to authenticate exhibits are the building blocks of any case, and objections and their responses are the mortar. The Family Law Trial Evidence Handbook is a common sense guide to these fundamentals. Based upon the author's years of family law practice and from his teaching experience at the ABA Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute, this handbook is organized in a practical format that can work for all family law trial lawyers, regardless of whether they practice in a state that uses a variation on the Federal Rules or a common law body of rules on evidence. It combines the substantive knowledge critical to assist family lawyers understand the concepts and theories of evidence with a supremely useful format that ensures that the necessary information can be located and absorbed quickly. Topics include: The fundamentals of evidence Relevance Evidence of character and habit Hearsay and hearsay exceptions Judicial notice and presumptions Authentication of writings and other tangible evidence Original writing rule and the rule of completeness Competency of witnesses Evidentiary privileges Expert witnesses Examination of witnesses Tendering exhibits, objections, and offers of proof Procedures for streamlining admission of evidence Requests to admit facts and genuineness of documents Judges identify lawyers who can try cases well and appreciate their skill, and good settlements come from superior trial skills. It is axiomatic, but knowledge is power. This book is the starting point for lawyers pursuing excellence in divorce trial advocacy.

In the early 1990s, sympathetic juries awarded huge damages to women claiming injury from silicone breast implants, leading to a $4.25 billion class-action settlement that still wasn't large enough to cover all the claims. Shockingly, rigorous scientific studies of breast implants have now shown that there is no significant link between breast implants and disease. Why were the courts and the public so certain that breast implants were dangerous when medical researchers were not? The answer to this question reveals important differences in the way science, the law, and the public regard evidence--and not just in the breast implant controversy.

Well-known and experienced authors, highly respected in the clinical field, Thomas A. Mauet and Warren D. Wolfson provide a complete review of the effective use of evidence in a trial setting. Trial Evidence, Seventh Editionis structured around the way judges and trial lawyers think about evidentiary rules, with particular focus on the Federal Rules of Evidence. Abundant real-life courtroom vignettes illustrate how evidentiary issues arise, both before and during a trial. Logical content organization follows the sequence of a trial: opening statement, direct examination, cross examination, and closing arguments. “Law and Practice” sections throughout the book are based on actual federal and state cases and bring decades of practical experience into the evidence classroom. The accessible style of Trial Evidence always focuses on practice over theory, on applying the statute rather than reading it. New to the Seventh Edition: Revised and expanded Sec. 7.1 and other sections dealing with the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause, including a broader understanding of the Supreme Court’s decisions of Bryant v. Michigan and Clark v. Ohio. Expanded section 10.11’s coverage of electronic evidence, with emphasis on ways to analyze issues concerning authorship of electronic messages. Added analysis of the hearsay exemption created by FRE 801(d)(1)(B)(ii) Updated recent rule changes, including the Ancient Document hearsay exception in FRE 803(16) and the self-authenticating electronic documents covered by FRE 902(13) and (14) Incorporation of all recent Supreme Court decisions affecting evidence law, including Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado, which held the FRE 606(b) rule barring impeachment of a jury verdict is trumped by the Sixth Amendment when there is a showing that a deliberating juror was racially biased against the defendant Professors and students will benefit from: Clear, objective, up-to-date explanations of evidence issues Content organization that flows logically through the stages of a trial Evidence law organized around the 3R’s approach: relevant, reliable, and right A companion piece including hundreds of problems based on real, cited cases and focused on important, current issues

The third edition of Proof includes clear, simple and easy-to-follow methods for organising and analysing evidence and includes an increased focus on the preparation of the defence case. A detailed Appendix provides a step by step analysis of a case and shows the practical application of charting evidence in order to construct the strongest possible case for presentation at trial.

This book explores challenges posed by the use of DNA evidence to the traditional features, procedures and principles of the criminal trial. It examines the limitations of existing theories of criminal trial processes in the face of increasing use of scientific evidence in the court room. The research elucidates the interconnections at trial of three epistemologies, namely legal reasoning, as represented by counsel and trial judge, common sense manifested by the jury and scientific reasoning expounded by the expert witness. Sallavaci argues that while scientific reasoning is part of this hybrid of trial languages and practices, its extended use is producing specifically novel tensions which impact on the traditional criminal trial landscape. Through the lens of DNA evidence, the book investigates how far the use of scientific evidence in the fact finding process poses challenges for the adversarial character of the proceedings and rules of evidence; how it affects the role of the judge, jury and expert witness, as well as the principle of orality and continuity of the trial. In comparing the challenges faced in English common law trials to those of the USA, this book has international scope, and will be of great use and interest to students and researchers of Criminal Law and Practice, Policing, and the role of Forensics in Law.