Memory – how good is it? The law favors memory – we make witnesses tell their stories months or years after an event but preclude use of their diaries or memos to the file. And memory reliability gets ‘politicized‘ – those who prosecute often default in favor of trusting memories long after the event, while
The waning days of the Trump administration saw a fervid, if not frenzied, rush to put out policy statement or decisions meant to tie the hands of the Biden administration, including declaring Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism, labeling a Yemeni group a terrorist organization, recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over parts of the Sahara, allowing oil
Lawyers fight tooth and nail over whether a particular statement is admissible hearsay – is it an assertion; if so, is it offered for its truth; and if both conditions are met, is there a hearsay exception that permits it to be heard or seen. And then they stop. But as a recent Pennsylvania Superior
Rarely is a cross-examination limited to an attack on credibility – there are often multiple goals which may include eliciting positive/supportive facts and ultimately telling or reinforcing the ‘story’ the witness’ examiner is presenting. The recognition of multiple goals of cross-examination is nothing new. Despite early emphasis on cross-examination as being needed to expose “mendacity,”
The below advice was developed for a lecture to Temple trial team members as work to ‘up our game’ in various aspects of courtroom advocacy. The advice, with minimal modification, is also useful for practicing attorneys. Why concentrate on the opening statement? It is where we are judged first, and our performance shapes how
Given that the Rules of Evidence were developed without regard to, or prior to the development of, principles of cognitive science, one might expect courts to use scientific research to mediate those rules and, especially, to inform the exercise of discretion. But as two divergent lines of cases show, although each involves how a visual
Eyewitness testimony—seen more as the staple of state court trials rather than federal, more often the subject of focus in criminal trials than in civil litigation—is, in fact, ubiquitous. For federal courts, it is involved in trials and in review of state court convictions, particularly on habeas. The prominence of eyewitness testimony, and the
In a world of Covid-19 infection, prisoners and pretrial detainees are out of sight and, to too many, out of mind. Perhaps in recognition of that phenomenon, the Philadelphia Bar’s Criminal Justice Section named Assistant Defender Thomas Innes as the recipient of its annual Thurgood Marshall Award. Mr. Innes is Director of Prisoner Services with
The below article is a guest-authored piece to which the host of this BLOG contributed. The other authors are Michael Cherry, Edward J. Imwinkelreid, Jack King, Philip Mause and Elven Riley. It identifies advances in two areas of science and raises concerns of what the consequences may be when science and technology advance but courts,
It is conventional wisdom that a story of actual innocence – there was no crime, the wrong person is on trial, the accused acted in self-defense – is the preferred modality in criminal cases. Why? An argument of ‘they can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt’ may come across like a schoolyard taunt – my